|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Late Breaking NewsJanuary 29, 2007 ACS Anomaly and Extension of HST Cycle 16 Deadline HST entered inertial safe mode on Saturday January 27. Preliminary indications are that this event was associated with an ACS anomaly. GSFC and STScI engineers and scientists are still investigating the situation, but it appears unlikely that ACS CCD observations (both WFC and HRC) will be available in Cycle 16. Current indications are that ACS/SBC can be restored using operational workarounds, so observers should assume that the ACS/SBC configuration will be available in Cycle 16. The formal Cycle 16 deadline was 8 pm EST on Friday Jan 26. We received a total of 747 proposals, including 498 to use ACS/WFC or ACS/HRC. The latter proposals are unlikely to be viable. In order to ensure that we accommodate the science areas covered by those programs, we are extending the HST Cycle 16 deadline. We encourage Principal Investigators who submitted proposals for ACS observations with either WFC or HRC to consider whether those observations could be made with WFPC2. For clarity, revised ACS proposals must be submitted with a different proposal ID number. To do this: - Make a copy of your original proposal - Load the proposal into APT - Go to the Submission Tool - Remember your Old ID - Hit the "Clear ID" button - Enter into the Submission Comments field your original ACS Phase I ID - Make your APT changes, attach your revised Scientific Justification - Hit the "Submit" button PIs of programs that use NICMOS, WFPC2 or FGS as prime instruments can also take this opportunity to revise their proposals (in particular, removing ACS/WFC or ACS/HRC parallels), although this is not essential. Revised versions of those proposals must be submitted using the same proposal ID. We will also accept new proposals to use ACS/SBC, NICMOS, WFPC2 and FGS, and new archive or theory proposals. THE NEW HST CYCLE 16 PROPOSAL DEADLINE IS 8 pm EST ON FRIDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2007 THE SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE CYCLE 4 DEADLINE HAS BEEN MOVED TO 8 PM EST ON FRIDAY FEBRUARY 16, 2007 In the meantime, we anticipate resuming science observations with WFPC2, NICMOS and FGS later this week. In addition to implementing existing Cycle 15 programs with those instruments, we have activated the backup proposals that were accepted late last year after TAC review. We will also review Cycle 15 ACS proposals and, working in consultation with the Principal Investigators, determine whether those programs can be rescheduled using WFPC2. We will keep the community informed as more information becomes available. January 15, 2007 Cycle 16 Duration Revised The orbits available for GO and SNAPSHOT programs will be adjusted accordingly. December 13, 2006 All about Survey Programs This document describes Information, Rules and Guidelines for Proposers and Observers for Cycle 16 that wish to utilize the new Survey Program Type. October 4, 2006 ACS Backup Proposals for Cycle 15 The Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) is the most popular instrument on HST. It is the primary instrument in 116 of the 146 Cycle 15 programs and accounts for ~80% of the primary orbits. In June 2006, ACS suffered a component failure within the side 1 electronics. Full operations were restored on the side 2 electronics in early July 2006. On 23 September 2006 the High Resolution Camera (HRC) experienced a problem with an electronic relay, and the onboard software placed the instrument in suspend state. Both the Wide Field Camera (WFC) and Solar Blind Channel (SBC) remain fully operational, and the expectation is that we will be able to restore at least partial operations of the HRC. ACS resumed observations with the WFC on 1 October 2006. |
|
| |||||||||||||||||
