NAME:  Jeffrey A. Hoffman (Ph.D.)
       NASA Astronaut
 
BIRTHPLACE AND DATE:  Born November 2, 1944, in Brooklyn, New York, but
considers Scarsdale, New York, to be his hometown.  His parents, Dr. and Mrs.
Burton P. Hoffman, are residents of Scarsdale.
 
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:  Brown hair; brown eyes; 6 feet 2 inches; 165 pounds.
 
EDUCATION:  Graduated from Scarsdale High School, Scarsdale, New York, in 1962;
received a bachelor of arts degree in astronomy (graduated Summa Cum Laude)
from Amherst College in 1966, a doctor of philosophy in astrophysics from
Harvard University in 1971, and a masters degree in materials science from Rice
University in 1988.
 
MARITAL STATUS:  Married to the former Barbara Catherine Attridge of Greenwich,
London, England.  Her father, Mr. Frederick J. C. Attridge, resides in
Kidbrooke, London, England.
 
CHILDREN:  Samuel L., May 3, 1975; Orin P.F., April 30, 1979.
 
RECREATIONAL INTERESTS:  He enjoys skiing, mountaineering, hiking, bicycling,
swimming, sailing, and music.
 
ORGANIZATIONS:  Member of the International Astronomical Union; the American
Astronomical Society; Phi Beta Kappa; and Sigma Xi.
 
SPECIAL HONORS:  Awarded the Amherst College's 1963 Porter Prize in Astronomy,
1964 Second Walker Prize in Mathematics, 1965 John Summer Runnells Scholarship
Prize, and 1966 Stanley V. and Charles B. Travis Prize and Woods Prize for
Scholarship.  Elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1965 and Sigma Xi in 1966.  Also
received a Woodrow Wilson Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, 1966-67; a
National Science Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, 1966-71; a National
Academy of Sciences Post-Doctoral Visiting Fellowship, 1971-72; a Harvard
University Sheldon International Fellowship, 1972-73; and a NATO Post-Doctoral
Fellowship, 1973-74.  Dr. Hoffman was awarded the NASA Space Flight Medal in
1985 and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 1988.
 
EXPERIENCE:  Dr. Hoffman's research interests are in high-energy astrophysics,
specifically cosmic gamma ray and x-ray astronomy.  His doctoral work at
Harvard was the design, construction, testing, and flight of a balloon-borne,
low-energy, gamma ray telescope.
 
From 1972 to 1975, during 3 years of post-doctoral work at Leicester
University, he worked on three rocket payloads -- two for the observation of
lunar occultations of x-ray sources and one for an observation of the Crab
Nebula with a solid state detector and concentrating x-ray mirror.  He designed
and supervised the construction and testing of the lunar occultation payloads
and designed test equipment for use in an x-ray beam facility which he used to
measure the scattering and reflectivity properties of the concentrating
mirror.  During his last year at Leicester, he was project scientist for the
medium-energy x-ray experiment on the European Space Agency's EXOSAT satellite
and played a leading role in the proposal and design studies for this project.
 
He worked in the Center for Space Research at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) from 1975 to 1978 as project scientist in charge of the
orbiting HEAO-1 A4 hard x-ray and gamma ray experiment, launched in August
1977.  His involvement included pre-launch design of the data analysis system,
supervising its operation post-launch, and directing the MIT team undertaking
the scientific analysis of flight data being returned.  He was also involved
extensively in analysis of x-ray data from the SAS-3 satellite being operated
by MIT, performing research on the study of x-ray bursts.  Dr. Hoffman has
authored or co-authored more than 20 papers on this subject since bursts were
first discovered in 1976.
 
NASA EXPERIENCE:  Selected by NASA in January 1978, Dr. Hoffman became an
astronaut in August 1979.
 
During preparations for the Shuttle Orbital Flight Tests, Dr. Hoffman worked in
the Flight Simulation Laboratory at Downey, California, testing guidance,
navigation and flight control systems.  He has worked with the orbital
maneuvering and reaction control systems, with Shuttle navigation, with crew
training, and with the development of satellite deployment procedures.  Dr.
Hoffman served as a support crew member for STS-5, and as a CAPCOM (spacecraft
communicator) for STS-8.
 
Dr. Hoffman made his first space flight as a mission specialist on STS 51-D,
12-19 April 1985.  On this mission, he made the first STS contingency
spacewalk, in an attempted rescue of a malfunctioning satellite.
 
Following his first flight, Dr. Hoffman has worked as the astronaut office
Payload Safety Representative.  He has also worked on EVA, including the
development of a high-pressure spacesuit for use on Space Station Freedom.  Dr.
Hoffman is a member of the astronaut office Science Support Group.
 
Dr. Hoffman made his second space flight as a mission specialist on STS-35,
2-10 December 1990.  This Spacelab mission featured the ASTRO-1 ultraviolet
astronomy laboratory.
 
CURRENT ASSIGNMENT:  Dr. Hoffman is in training as a mission specialist on the
crew of STS-46.  During this seven-day mission, the crew will deploy the
European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA), an ESA-sponsored free-flying science
platform, and will also demonstrate the Tethered Satellite System (TSS), a
joint project between NASA and the Italian Space Agency.  Dr. Hoffman has
worked on the Tethered Satellite Project since 1987.  STS-46 is scheduled for
launch in the summer of 1992.
 
APRIL 1992