page_title: Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph
hierarchical_section_title: Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph
caption_attribution_description: English: Saturn with ultraviolet Aurorae, photographed in October 1997 by the Hubble Space Telescope's Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) from a distance of 810 million miles (1.3 billion kilometers) • PRC98-05 • ST Scl OPODeutsch: Saturn mit ultraviolettem Polarlicht, aufgenommen im Oktober 1997 vom Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) des Weltraumteleskops Hubble aus einer Entfernung von 1,3 Milliarden Kilometer • PRC98-05 • ST Scl OPO
context_page_description: The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph is a spectrograph, also with a camera mode, installed on the Hubble Space Telescope. Aerospace engineer Bruce Woodgate of the Goddard Space Flight Center was the principal investigator and creator of the STIS. It operated continuously from 1997 until a power supply failure in August 2004. After repairs, it began operating again in 2009. The spectrograph has 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 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 beyond its predicted lifespan. 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. The crew did a long EVA to repair the instrument.
  Congratulations, you brought STIS back to lIfe
  — Astronaut J. Grunsfield, 2009
context_section_description: The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) is a spectrograph, also with a camera mode, installed on the Hubble Space Telescope. Aerospace engineer Bruce Woodgate of the Goddard Space Flight Center was the principal investigator and creator of the STIS. It operated continuously from 1997 until a power supply failure in August 2004. After repairs, it began operating again in 2009. The spectrograph has 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 beyond its predicted lifespan. 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. The crew did a long (many hour) EVA to repair the instrument.
  Congratulations, you brought STIS back to lIfe
  — Astronaut J. Grunsfield, 2009
caption: STIS camera images Saturn aurora
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "This is the first image of Saturn's ultraviolet aurora taken by the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on board the Hubble Space Telescope in October 1997, when Saturn was a distance of 810 million miles (1.3 billion kilometers) from Earth. The new instrument, used as a camera, provides more than ten times the sensitivity of previous Hubble instruments in the ultraviolet. STIS images reveal exquisite detail never before seen in the spectacular auroral curtains of light that encircle Saturn s north and south poles and rise more than a thousand miles above the cloud tops."}