John Mace Grunsfeld is an American physicist and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of five Space Shuttle flights and has served as NASA Chief Scientist. His academic background includes research in high energy astrophysics, cosmic ray physics and the emerging field of exoplanet studies with specific interest in future astronomical instrumentation. After retiring from NASA in 2009, he served as the Deputy Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. In January 2012, he returned to NASA and served as associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD). Grunsfeld announced his retirement from NASA in April 2016.

Space Shuttle Endeavour / OV-105 | STS-67

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
March 2, 1995, 6:38 a.m.

Status: Success

Mission:

STS-67 was a human spaceflight mission using Space Shuttle Endeavour that launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida on 2 March 1995.

Low Earth Orbit

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Space Shuttle Atlantis / OV-104 | STS-81

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Jan. 12, 1997, 9:27 a.m.

Status: Success

Mission:

STS-81 was a January 1997 Space Shuttle Atlantis mission to the Mir space station.

Low Earth Orbit

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Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-103

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Dec. 20, 1999, 12:50 a.m.

Status: Success

Mission:

STS-103 was a Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission by Space Shuttle Discovery. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 19 December 1999 and returned on 27 December 1999.

Low Earth Orbit

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Space Shuttle Columbia / OV-102 | STS-109

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
March 1, 2002, 11:22 a.m.

Status: Success

Mission:

STS-109 (SM3B) was a Space Shuttle mission that launched from the Kennedy Space Center on 1 March 2002. It was the 108th mission of the Space Shuttle program, the 27th flight of the orbiter Columbia and the fourth servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope. It was also the last successful mission of the orbiter Columbia before the ill-fated STS-107 mission, which culminated in the Columbia disaster.

Low Earth Orbit

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Space Shuttle Atlantis / OV-104 | STS-125

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
May 11, 2009, 6:01 p.m.

Status: Success

Mission:

STS-125, or HST-SM4 (Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4), was the fifth and final space shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Space Shuttle Atlantis carried two new instruments to the Hubble Space Telescope, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and the Wide Field Camera 3. The mission also replaced a Fine Guidance Sensor, six gyroscopes, and two battery unit modules to allow the telescope to continue to function at least through 2014. The crew also installed new thermal blanket insulating panels to provide improved thermal protection, and a soft-capture mechanism that would aid in the safe de-orbiting of the telescope by an unmanned spacecraft at the end of its operational lifespan.

Low Earth Orbit

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