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Session 3 - SIRTF.
Display session, Monday, January 13
Metropolitan Ballroom,

[3.02] Community Participation in the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) Mission: An Overview

R. D. Gehrz (U.Minnesota), C. A. Beichman (IPAC), M. D. Bicay (IPAC), L. J. Caroff (NASA ARC), C. A. Christian (STScI), D. P. Clemens (Boston U.), D. P. Cruikshank (NASA ARC), R. M. Cutri (IPAC), M. A. Greenhouse (NASA Goddared SFC), M. S. Hanner (JPL/Caltech), T. J. Jones (U. MN), R. B. Miller (JPL/Caltech), M. J. Rieke (U. AZ), Jr. Thronson (NASA HQ), E. J. Weiler (NASA HQ), M. W. Werner (JPL/Caltech), C. E. Woodward (U. WY)

Seventy five to eighty percent of the observing time on SIRTF will be awarded to the general astronomical community through Legacy Project (LP), Guest Observer (GO), Target of Opportunity (ToO), and Director's Discretionary Observations (DDO) programs. We describe the organization of the community of potential SIRTF observers under the auspices of the SIRTF Community Task Force (CTF) and summarize the activities of the CTF since its organization in late 1994. The CTF has appointed Working Groups (WGs) that include broad community representation to explore issues related to the definition of the LP, GO, and ToO Programs. Additional Wgs have been designated to study SIRTF Solar System Science and Data Archiving and Analysis. White papers delineating the major issues currently before the WGs can be read on the SIRTF-homepage at http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/SIRTF. An interactive forum on the homepage will enable the community to participate actively during the mission definition phase. Activities conducted at the SIRTF Community Workshops held at the 185th (January 1995, Tucson, AZ), 187th (January 1996, Austin, TX), and 189th (January, 1997, Toronto Canada) AAS meetings are summarized. A current version of the SIRTF Science Activities Timeline (SSAT) is presented. The SSAT defines the schedule for community activities that are necessary to conduct the SIRTF mission through its design, development, construction, preflight testing, and flight phases. Major milestones to be described include a series of workshops to define the LP program, NASA Research Announcement (NRA) releases for the LP and GO Programs, and NRA releases for flight-phase data archiving and analysis activities. An estimate of the fractional distribution of SIRTF observing time among Guaranteed Time Observations (GTOs), LPS, GOs, ToOs, and DDOs during the flight phase is presented. Further information regarding community activities in support of this NASA mission can be found on the SIRTF-homepage.


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The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: gehrz@ast1.spa.umn.edu

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