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Applying for Observing Time

The SOFIA Observatory is open to all US, German and International astronomers. The release of the Call for Proposals for the first observing cycle (Jan - Oct 2006) will be simultaneous with the arrival of the SOFIA aircraft at the SOFIA Science Missions and Operations Center at NASA Ames. Currently, this is scheduled to occur in Aug 2005. US and International Astronomers should submit their proposals to the SOFIA Science and Mission Operations Center (SSMOC) at NASA Ames, using the SOFIA Proposal Tool (SPT) which will be available for downloading on these pages once it is released to the community. Proposals must be submitted no later than 90 days after the Call for Proposals has been issued. Some level of funding will be provided to US Astronomers who are granted time.

The observatory has two classes of instruments: Facility Science Instruments (FSIs) and Principal Investigator Science Instruments (PSIs). Astronomers may apply for observing time on either class of instruments. For the first observing cycle we will offer access to two FSIs and two PSIs. The Facility Instruments will most likely be FLITECAM and FORCAST, although the final decision regarding instrument availability will be made at the time the Call for Proposals is issued. Astronomers who are granted time on an FSI will have to submit an observing plan and Astronomical Observation Requests (AORs) using the tools provided by the SSMOC. Proposals for observing time with PSIs require approval of and collaboration with the PSI teams, as support of observing with PSIs will be provided primarily by the PSI teams. The latter proposals must be technically approved by the PSI teams before submission.

The observing time for the first year of operations is very limited (~100 hrs) and is offered on a shared risk basis. Potential observers using FSIs during the first observing cycle (only) must contact the instrument team of the requested science instrument prior to submitting a proposal and be prepared to collaborate with them. Observers should also keep in mind that the capabilities of both the instruments and the observatory will be uncertain at the time the first Call for Proposals is released. Because of the compressed schedule for the first observing cycle, observers will be given only short notice of the allocation and scheduling their observing time. Therefore, advanced preparation will be crucial for successful observations.

A subsequent Call for Proposals will be issued in March-April 2006 for the October 2006 to October 2007 observing cycle. Thereafter the schedule is expected to be the following:

As the capabilities of the science instruments and the observatory become known, the restrictions imposed on the observers will be lessened and the risks taken by observers will diminish. By the third year of SOFIA operations, the risks to observing success will be small, and SSMOC staff will more fully support the General Investigator (GI) community.  In the future, this web-site will provide links describing this level of GI support.