SOFIA Cycle 3 Call for Proposals


The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) Cycle 3
observing Call for Proposals (CfP) has been released. The Call solicits
observing proposals from the U.S. and international astronomical community
for up to 450 hours of science observing using SOFIA, and is issued on
behalf of NASA by the Universities Space Research Association (USRA).

The deadline for submitting proposals is July 18, 2014. Proposal selections
will be announced in October 2014, and the Cycle 3 observing period will be
from March 1, 2015 to January 31, 2016.

The proposal process consists of two phases. Phase I requires the
preparation and submission of a scientific context, a scientific
justification, a feasibility analysis and a high-level description of the
proposed targets and observations. Peer review and proposal selection will
be based on the Phase I submission. Proposers who are awarded time will be
required to submit detailed observation specifications during Phase II.

A formal update to the CfP on this website is scheduled for June 20, 2014.
That update will include information about some instrument sensitivities
gained by analysis of data from recently concluded commissioning flights.
However, no major changes in capabilities are expected relative to those
described in the current version of the Cycle 3 CfP document.

The SOFIA Cycle 3 Call for Proposals document, links to the Observer's
Handbook for Cycle 3, and other details about preparing and submitting a
proposal may be found at the "Cycle 3: Phase I Information" link:

http://www.sofia.usra.edu/Science/proposals/cycle3/SOFIA_Cycle3_CfP.pdf

SOFIA is a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The
aircraft is based at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center's facility
in Palmdale, Calif. NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center manages the
program. NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., manages the
SOFIA science and mission operations in cooperation with the Universities
Space Research Association (USRA) headquartered in Columbia, Md., and the
German SOFIA Institute (DSI) at the University of Stuttgart.