​​Launched in 1990, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has investigated some of the most
compelling mysteries of the universe.
Technology advanced in the seven years after Hubble’s launch, offering NASA the opportunity
to upgrade Hubble during its Second Servicing Mission in February 1997.
During five spacewalks, astronauts installed the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph,
or STIS, a new versatile tool for studying visible and ultraviolet light.
They also added the Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer, or NICMOS, which
allowed researchers to gaze further from Earth and farther back in time than ever before
thanks to its infrared-detecting capabilities.
Along with the new instruments, astronauts equipped the telescope with a refurbished
fine guidance sensor and a new data recorder, replaced its gyroscopes and solar arrays,
and repaired its damaged insulation.
These activities extended Hubble's lifetime, while STIS and NICMOS expanded humanity’s
view of the universe.