STS-61 was the first Hubble Space Telescopeservicing mission, and the fifth flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour The mission launched on 2 December 1993 from Kennedy Space Centrein Florida. The mission restored the spaceborne observatory's vision, marred by spherical aberration, with the installation of a corrective optics package. The flight also brought instrument upgrades and new solar arrays to the telescope. With its very heavy workload, the STS-61 mission was one of the most complex in the Shuttle's history. It lasted almost 11 days, and crew members made five spacewalks, an all-time record. Even the retrieval of Intelsat IV on STS-49in May 1992 required only four. The flight plan allowed for two additional EVAs, which could have raised the total number to seven. The final two contingency EVAs were not made. In order to complete the mission without too much fatigue, the five extravehicular working sessions were shared between two alternating shifts of two astronauts.

With its very heavy workload, the STS-61 mission was one of the most complex in the Shuttle's history. It lasted almost 11 days, and crew members made five spacewalks (extravehicular activities, or EVAs), an all-time record; even the re-positioning of Intelsat VI on STS-49 in May 1992 required only four. The flight plan allowed for two additional EVAs, which could have raised the total number to seven; the final two contingency EVAs were not made. In order to complete the mission without too much fatigue, the five EVAs were shared between two pairs of different astronauts alternating their shifts. During the flight, mission specialist Jeff Hoffman also spun a driedel for the holiday of Chanukah to a live audience watching via satellite.

Spacewalks
Musgrave and Hoffman – EVA 1
EVA 1 Start: 5 December 1993 – 03:44 UTC
EVA 1 End: 5 December 1993 – 11:38 UTC
Duration: 7 hours, 54 minutes
Thornton and Akers – EVA 2
EVA 2 Start: 6 December 1993 – 03:29 UTC
EVA 2 End: 6 December 1993 – 10:05 UTC
Duration: 6 hours, 36 minutes
Musgrave and Hoffman – EVA 3
EVA 3 Start: 7 December 1993 – 03:35 UTC
EVA 3 End: 7 December 1993 – 10:22 UTC
Duration: 6 hours, 47 minutes
Thornton and Akers – EVA 4
EVA 4 Start: 8 December 1993 – 03:13 UTC
EVA 4 End: 8 December 1993 – 10:03 UTC
Duration: 6 hours, 50 minutes
Musgrave and Hoffman – EVA 5
EVA 5 Start: 9 December 1993 – 03:30 UTC
EVA 5 End: 9 December 1993 – 10:51 UTC
Duration: 7 hours, 21 minutes