SOFIA Cycle 3 Call for Proposals Update and Other Information


Newsletter contents:
A)	SOFIA Cycle 3 Call for Proposals update
B)	Status of pending Cycle 2 observation targets in regards Cycle 3
C)	SOFIA program FY 15 budget status

A) SOFIA Cycle 3 Call for Proposals update

As stated in the SOFIA Cycle 3 Call for Proposals (CfP) released on May 23,
updated information relevant to the U.S. CfP will be released before the
end of the Call period (July 18). This newsletter contains that
information.

Please note that there are no significant changes to the original version
of the CfP.

The following updates apply to the CfP and supporting documentation:
1) The section relevant to the GREAT far-IR spectrometer has been edited
to clarify that the M-channel is not offered in Cycle 3. 
2) Minor changes to supporting documents include updated sensitivity
values for the FLITECAM near-IR camera and the GREAT far-IR spectrometer
exposure time estimators. 
3) An updated Observer’s Handbook has been released.

The deadline for proposal submission under the U.S. CfP is July 18, 23:59
Pacific Daylight Time (06:59 UTC). The Call solicits up to 450 hours of
observing time and is open to all qualified investigators from the U.S. and
international institutions, with the exception of scientists with German
institutional affiliations who should apply through the German proposal
queue (http://www.dsi.uni-stuttgart.de).  Observing time is offered with
the EXES, FIFI-LS, FLITECAM, FORCAST, GREAT and HIPO instruments, providing
imaging and spectroscopy from the visual through sub-mm wavelength ranges.

Details can be found at the SOFIA web site:
http://www.sofia.usra.edu/Science/proposals/cycle3/

Contingent on budget confirmation and NASA approval, the total General
Investigator funding available for Cycle 3 is expected to be approximately
$1.4M.

B) Status of pending Cycle 2 observation targets in regards Cycle 3

As stated in the Call for Proposals for Cycles 1 and 2, the SOFIA program
does not, routinely, carry over non-executed observations between cycles. 
For Cycle 3 this policy will be modified to some extent, as described in
Section 2.1 of the Cycle 3 CfP.

If you have a selected Cycle 2 proposal that has not yet been executed, you
may wish to resubmit it for Cycle 3. Most of the Cycle 2 flights have
already occurred; the remaining flights are planned for December 2014 and
January 2015, after the aircraft returns from its Heavy Maintenance Visit to
Germany. Pending Cycle 2 observations, particularly of targets with little
or no visibility in December or January, might not be performed. You may
re-propose the already-selected observations for Cycle 3, or propose
alternate targets to be observed in Cycle 3 if the pending observations are
executed during Cycle 2.  In either case, please clearly state the purpose
of the new Cycle 3 proposal, status of the Cycle 2 observations, and your
preferences should the pending Cycle 2 observation be performed. Please
note that, while they will be instructed to consider such proposals under
these rules, the Cycle 3 Time Allocation Committee (TAC) will not be
obliged to award them observing time.

C) SOFIA Program FY15 budget status

In the White House/OMB budget proposal for NASA submitted to Congress
during March 2014, SOFIA was designated to go into storage unless outside
funding was identified. Since then, the U.S. House of Representatives has
passed an FY15 budget that includes $70M for continued operations of SOFIA.
The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee produced a budget that provides
$87M for SOFIA. That bill still requires passage by the full Senate. After
that, a Conference Committee from the House and Senate will reconcile
differences between the two versions of the funding bill. The reconciled
bill then must be signed by the President.