The main objective of STS-61-F was to deploy the Ulysses solar probe, which would travel to Jupiter and use it as a gravitational slingshot in order to be placed into
polar orbit around the Sun. This mission would have marked the first use of the Centaur-G liquid-fueled payload booster, which would also be used on the subsequent mission to send the Galileo probe in orbit around Jupiter.
Due to the use of the Centaur-G and its volatile propellants, this mission was considered to be one of the most dangerous Space Shuttle flights attempted, with the Chief of the Astronaut OfficeJohn W. Young referring to the two Centaur flights as the "Death Star" flights.[1] The flight was risky enough that Commander Hauck gave his crewmates an option to leave the crew if they considered the mission to be too unsafe.[2]
^Bergin, Chris (26 October 2005). "Flights of the 'Death Star'". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 18 July 2013. "'John Young called it the 'Death Star'. Behind the dark humour, however, lay real concern for the then-chief of NASA's astronaut corps".
^Bergin, Chris (26 October 2005). "Flights of the 'Death Star'". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 18 July 2013. 'Safety is being compromised and, if any of you want to take yourself off this flight, I will support you'.