Hoffman didn't make the first cut, but after Congress requested that NASA reevaluate the selection, he was accepted and granted the title of a full-fledged space cadet.

Many of Hoffman's teachers and colleagues say they are not surprised to hear of his "astronomical" achievements.

"He has the ability to work hard, follow directions, and find out why things don't go right when they should--all qualities an astronaut should have," says Henry F. Helmken, Professor of electrical engineering at Florida Atlantic University and Hoffman's thesis advisor at Harvard.

"He is a man who keeps his cool under almost all bizarre and difficult situations," says Lewin.

According to Lewin, during one of Hoffman's 150 parachute jumps, his parachute failed to open completely and he began to plummet in free-fall toward the ground.

"Most people in this situation, in panic, pull the energy backup string [causing the parachutes to entangle] and free-fall to earth, killing themselves," says Lewin.

But in mid-free-fall, Hoffman timed his speed of descent with an altmeter and a stopwatch. Within 10 seconds, he determined that his impact speed would be too high, took off his primary parachute, opened his backup, and landed safely.

"You can't wish for a better astronaut than Jeff because in space, he'd do exactly the right thing," says Lewin.

Ken C. Atchinson, a NASA spokesperson, agrees. "We're all delighted," he says "[Repairing the Hubble] has been one heck of a major challenge and we anticipated great difficulty. Jeff did a stupendous job just like the others."

The Endeavor mission was scheduled to return yesterday. Hoffman's future plans include giving a colloquium at Harvard about the mission, according to Fazio.

Hoffman could not be reached for comment last week--he was in space.