On this day: 2 December 1993, STS-61, the first Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission was launched with ESA astronaut Claude Nicollier on board. The fifth flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, the mission restored the vision of the NASA/ESA space observatory, which was marred by spherical aberration, with the installation of a new main camera and a corrective optics package.
The STS-61 crew: Dick Covey, Jeff Hoffman, Tom Akers, (seated) Ken Bowersox, Kathryn Thornton, Story Musgrave and Claude Nicollier. STS-61 was the first Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.