Rather than abandon the $85m satellite, the crew set to work putting together a less-than-sophisticated device that could be used to poke the satellite to activate a lever on its side. But within minutes it was clear that something was wrong: the satellite’s antennae had failed to deploy.

With the shuttle doors open, it drifted away. In April 1985, nine months before the Challenger disaster, the crew of Space Shuttle Discovery deployed the satellite Leasat-3. Sure, none of the astronauts looked quite as square-jawed as George Clooney, but they were regularly whizzing around on space walks, fixing satellites and generally appeared to be having a good time. If ever there was a time when the Space Shuttle programme resembled the opening sequence of the movie, Gravity, it was the early 1980s. In tribute to those cosmic travellers who kept their head when we might have lost ours, here is our rundown of the five greatest space hacks: It’s amazing what has been grabbed, bent and improvised to save red faces – or, indeed, the lives of astronauts. But sometimes the only option is for an astronaut to get their hands dirty, using whatever comes to hand and a bit of DIY know-how. Some can be dealt with on Earth from Mission Control. Some can be dealt with by sophisticated sensors and equipment.

But sometimes mishaps and emergencies occur. Space missions are amazingly well-prepared affairs, every action and procedure is followed, right down to the most minute detail. (Wrongly quoted words as it turns out – the original phrase uttered being “ Houston, we’ve had a problem.”) “Houston, we have a problem.” Immortal words that have become a by-word for an emergency, not just in space, but anywhere on Earth.

The final earth 2 hacked