The Near Infrared Camera and Multi-object Spectrometer (NICMOS) was installed onboard the Hubble Space Telescope during the second Servicing Mission (SM2) in February 1997 and operated until cryogen depletion in 1999. It provided imaging and spectroscopy over the wavelength range 0.8 to 2.5 microns. In 2002 an external cryocooler was installed during the third Servicing Mission, restoring NICMOS observations until 2008.
It had three adjacent but non-continuous cameras designed to operate independently at different magnification scales.
NICMOS was developed under the leadership of Principal Investigator Professor Rodger Thompson.