page_title: James van Hoften
section_title: Spaceflight experience
hierarchical_section_title: James van Hoften / NASA career / Spaceflight experience
caption_attribution_description: English: A view of space shuttle astronaut James van Hoften standing on the end of the Space Shuttle Discovery's robotic arm, manipulating the Syncom IV-3 (Leasat 3) satellite during STS-51-I.
context_page_description: James Dougal Adrianus "Ox" van Hoften, Ph.D. is an American civil and hydraulic engineer, retired U.S. Navy officer and aviator, and a former astronaut for NASA.
context_section_description: STS-41-C: Challenger (April 6–13, 1984) was launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and returned to land at Edwards Air Force Base, California. During the 7-day mission the crew successfully deployed the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF); retrieved the ailing Solar Maximum Satellite, repaired it on board the orbiting Challenger and replaced it in orbit, using the robot arm called the Remote Manipulator System (RMS). The mission also included flight testing of Manned Maneuvering Units (MMU's) in two extra-vehicular activities (EVA's); operation of the Cinema 360 and IMAX Camera Systems, as well as a Bee Hive Honeycomb Structures student experiment. The mission was accomplished in 107 Earth orbits in 167 hours, 40 minutes, 7 seconds.
  STS-51-I: Discovery (August 27 to September 3, 1985) launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and returned to land at Edwards Air Force Base, California. During this mission the crew successfully deployed three communications satellites, the Navy's Syncom IV-4, Australian AUSSAT, and American Satellite Company's ASC-1. The crew also performed the successful salvage of the ailing Navy Syncom IV-3 satellite. These tasks included two extravehicular activities (EVA's) in which Dr. Van Hoften attached to the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) performed the first manual grapple and manual deployment of a satellite in orbit. The mission also included the Physical Vapor Transport of Organic Solids (PVTOS), the second material processing experiment to be flown aboard a Shuttle for 3M. The mission was accomplished in 112 orbits of the Earth in 171 hours, 17 minutes, 42 seconds.
caption: Van Hoften's EVA during STS-51-I mission
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