Introduction
As we mentioned, the Call for Proposals provides an overview of HST capabilities and describes how a Phase I proposal is to be prepared. It goes hand-in-hand with the Phase I Proposal Instructions. If your proposal is successful, you will need to submit a Phase II proposal that provides all the specific details we need to ensure that your observations are obtained in the form you intend. This Handbook provides much of the information you will need in Phase II, with the proposal procedures themselves in a Phase II Proposal Instructions book. There is also a separate document (the HST Data Handbook) that describes how to process and reduce GHRS data. We expect that the Data Handbook will contain any information in the future that archival researchers may need to know in interpreting GHRS observations.
This Instrument Handbook is written to apply to the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph as it will be configured and will operate in Cycle 6 of the HST science program. This Handbook supersedes all previous versions, but if another document conflicts with this Handbook, you should use the one with the most recent date-of-issue.
You are always welcome to call us, the STScI GHRS team, to get information when you find yourself confused or at a loss. We prefer e-mail (to the addresses on the back of the title page), but you may contact us by telephone if you wish.
Finally, you will find some additional sources of information in Chapter 9.
Do not use out-of-date documents as a source of information! If this handbook does not contain the information you need, please contact us.
As this is being written, STScI is preparing for the Second Servicing Mission, scheduled for April, 1997. At that time we anticipate that the GHRS will be withdrawn from HST to leave room for STIS. This is likely to be the last Instrument Handbook for the GHRS, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank the GHRS Investigation Definition Team for building and delivering a versatile and robust instrument. The strong demand for GHRS time is ample evidence of the instrument's quality and usefulness. The cooperation of the IDT and its affiliates has been essential, and we are grateful for their help.
- Dedication
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