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 spectrum of the atmosphere of an extrasolar planet, HD 209458b.
The STIS was installed on Hubble in 1997 during its second servicing mission (STS-82) 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 was repaired by space shuttle astronauts during STS-125, Servicing Mission 4, launched on May 11, 2009.
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