Aerospace engineer Bruce Woodgate of the Goddard Space Flight Center was the principal investigator and creator of the STIS.
The spectrograph has made many important observations, including the first spectrum of the atmosphere of an extrasolar planet, HD 209458b.
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.
[5] Congratulations, you brought STIS back to life.STIS is both a spectrograph and an imaging camera, and is focused on ultraviolet light.
[6] On its 20th anniversary (1997-2017) NASA noted a selection of discoveries and/or observations conducted with STIS:[8] Other Hubble instruments :