Former NASA astronaut visits IOM

Fri, 29 Sep 2023

Retired NASA astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman visited the James Martin Observatory in Foxdale on a ‘whistlestop’ tour of the Island.

His visit to the Isle of Man was during a cruise he was on and whilst the ship stopped in Douglas the Man Sat Group gave him a quick tour, which included the visit to the observatory and meeting members of the Isle of Man Astronomical Society.

Dr Hoffman made five space flights between 1985 and 1996, and was part of the first mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope in 1993. During his career, he logged more than 1,200 hours in space and travelled more than 21.5 million miles.

Mike Newby, Chairman of the Isle of Man Astronomical Society, said: “It was great to be able to welcome such an accomplished yet modest astronaut, who played a critical role in rescuing the Hubble Telescope, to our Observatory.”

Dr Hoffman said: “I was impressed with the observatory and wish that I could have stayed until nightfall to enjoy the beautiful dark skies in that remote corner of the Isle of Man. It’s really impressive how ManSat, a small company on a small island, has made a large impact on global telecommunications. I look forward to a return visit.”

Rachel Beattie, Chief Financial Officer at ManSat, said: “We had a lovely day with Jeffrey, showing him around our Island, and it was wonderful that we could visit the Observatory and give members of the IOM Astronomical Society the opportunity to meet him. Jeffrey has enjoyed such an incredible career and it was fascinating to hear him talk about his time in space.”

---