Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph

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The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) is a spectrograph installed on the Hubble Space Telescope, operating from 1997 to 2004. It made many important observations, including the first spectrograph of the atmosphere of an extrasolar planet, Osiris.

The STIS was installed on Hubble during its second servicing mission in 1997 by Mark Lee and Steven Smith, replacing the High Resolution Spectrograph and the Faint Object Spectrograph. It was designed to operate for five years. On August 3, 2004 an electronic failure rendered STIS inoperable, ending its use 2 years after its predicted failure. In order to bring it back to operational status, the instrument is due to be repaired by space shuttle astronauts during STS-125, Servicing Mission 4, due to launch in September 2008.


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