17.1 Introduction

In this chapter we give a brief guide to the calibration observations obtained during ground testing, the original period of Servicing Mission Orbital Verification (SMOV2), Cycles 7 through 13, the post-SM4 repair verification (SMOV4), and Cycles 17 through 31. Details of improvements made to the pipeline calibration of STIS data after the failure of the STIS Side-2 electronics in August 2004 are discussed in Section 15.1. Further information on calibration, including detailed descriptions of the proposals, can be found on the STIS Calibration page.

STIS provides a large number of available-but-unsupported capabilities (Appendix A) beyond those which are routinely supported. Observers should remember that STScI will not normally undertake additional calibrations for these available-but-unsupported instrument configurations. Observers wishing to use non-standard instrument configurations should assess their specific calibration needs and include time in their Phase I proposal for any additional calibrations that are required. Proposers who believe that more extensive calibration observations or analysis may be of benefit to users of STIS should consider submitting a Cycle 32 Calibration Outsourcing Proposal (see the Cycle 32 “Call for Proposals” for details).