The Cycle Plan is the baseline schedule approved by SOFIA senior management. It is subject to change depending on budget and operational constraints. The detailed contents, such as targets, observing order and exposure times for each flight series are set about a month before the beginning of each series.
The flight plan tables for series that have been planned are available via the links. These tables contain information about the flight legs during which observations of astronomical targets, including calibrators, are planned. The durations listed for each leg are the total times, not the actual exposure times on target. Generally, the overall layout of observations is not expected to change in any major way, but since the posted plans are approved several weeks before the flight dates, the actual flight plans may differ from these in minor ways.
Cycle 3 Flight Plans (posted March 4, 2015)
| Name | Instrument | Flight Date | Number of flights | Base |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OC3-B | FIFI-LS | - | 8 | Palmdale |
| OC3-Maintenance-1 | N/A | - | Palmdale | |
| OC3-C | FORCAST | - | 5 | Palmdale |
| OC3-D-2 | FORCAST | - | 6 | Christchurch |
| OC3-D-1 | FORCAST | 1 | Ferry-flight | |
| OC3-E | FLIPO | 1 | Christchurch | |
| OC3-F | FORCAST | - | 4 | Christchurch |
| OC3-G | GREAT | - | 3 | Christchurch |
| OC3-Maintenance-2 | N/A | - | Palmdale | |
| OC3-H | EXES | - | 5 | Palmdale |
| OC3-I | FORCAST | - | 6 | Palmdale |
| OC3-J | FLITECAM | - | 4 | Palmdale |
| OC3-K | FIFI-LS | - | 8 | Palmdale |
| OC3-L | FORCAST | - | 9 | Palmdale |
| OC3-M | GREAT | - | 10 | Palmdale |
| OC3-Maintenance-3 | N/A | - | Palmdale | |
| OC3-Commissioning-2 | HAWC+ | - | 3 | Palmdale |
| OC3-Commissioning-1 | upGREAT | - | 4 | Palmdale |