Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph Instrument Handbook for Cycle 17

1.5 The Help Desk at STScI

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STScI has a Help Desk whose staff quickly provide answers on any HST-related topic, including questions regarding STIS and the proposal process.

If you have many questions about the implementation of your program, you may send a request to the Help Desk asking for a Contact Scientist (CS) to be assigned to your program. If your program does not have a CS assigned or if the program has already executed, you should direct all inquiries to the Help Desk.

The Help Desk staff have access to all of the resources available at the Institute, and they maintain a database of answers so that frequently asked questions can be immediately answered. (FAQs are also posted on the STIS Web site.) The Help Desk staff also provide hard copies of STScI documentation, including Instrument Science Reports and Instrument Handbooks. Electronic copies of documents are available via the Web. Questions sent to the Help Desk are answered within two working days. Usually, the Help Desk staff will reply with the answer to a question, but occasionally they will need more time to investigate the answer. In these cases, they will reply with an estimate of the time needed to prepare a full answer.

We ask that you please send all initial inquiries to the Help Desk at help@stsci.edu. If your question cannot be answered by the Help Desk staff on duty, the Help Desk staff will liaise with the appropriate expert to obtain and deliver the answer. By sending your request to the Help Desk, you are guaranteed that someone will provide you with a timely response.

Note: File attachments to email messages should not be sent directly to the Help Desk. Instead, please make a note in your message, and the Help Desk staff will let you know how to deliver the attachments to us.

To contact the Help Desk at STScI:

• E-mail: help@stsci.edu
• Phone: 1-410-338-1082
  Toll-free in the U.S.: 1-800-544-8125

The Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF) also maintains a Help Desk. European users should generally contact the ST-ECF for help; all other users should contact STScI. To contact the ST-ECF Help Desk:

• E-mail: stdesk@eso.org

More information about getting help is available on the STIS Web site at:

http://www.stsci.edu/hst/stis/help.html.