Legacy Program: FAQ

Freqently Asked Questions on the Legacy Program

Q:   Must a Legacy Science team have a Spitzer Instrument Team member or an SSC scientist as a co-investigator?

A:   No. The proposals were judged based on the technical information provided on the Spitzer web site, including the Call for Proposals and the Spitzer Observer's Manual. There was no requirement or need to include instrument team members or SSC scientists in Legacy Science proposals.

Q:   Were SSC or Instrument team Scientists eligible to participate as Legacy Science team members or as Principal Investigators?

A:   Yes. There was no restriction on the level of participation of any scientist. The SSC developed conflict of interest guidelines for its science staff so that they are aware of the community sensitivities, and so that the community can be confident that all approved Legacy Science teams will get full support.

Q:   Could non-US based teams propose a Legacy Science project?

A:   Yes. Because of the large amounts of observing time awarded to approved Legacy Science teams, and the fact that foreign-based teams are ineligible for NASA financial support, the proposals from non-US based proposals were required to submit a credible letter of financial support from the proposing institution or national agency. The letter had to demonstrate that if that proposal is selected the resources will be committed to carry out the work that is proposed.

Q:   Must Legacy Science projects adhere to any pre-selected scientific topics?

A:   No. The Legacy Science Program has always been identified as a program that will be based on the best science proposals submitted. THERE WERE NO PRE-IDENTIFIED SCIENCE AREAS FOR LEGACY SCIENCE. All Legacy science proposals were judged equally by the Time Allocation Committee.

Q:   How were the Legacy Science Programs selected?

A:   The SSC issued a Legacy Science Call for Proposals (CP) in the summer of 2000, with proposals due on 15 September 2000. Letters of Intent were submitted by 31 July 2000, so that the SSC could begin organizing the TAC in advance of the proposals being submitted. All proposals had to undergo a technical feasibility and management review by the SSC, the results of which were presented to the TAC for its consideration. A Spitzer Legacy Science TAC was formed to review all the Legacy Science proposals, along with the SSC technical and management review, and made recommendations for the Legacy Science Program to the SSC Director.

The TAC had the option of recommending partial approval of submitted projects. The TAC was not asked to recommend how proposed programs might be concatenated or combined. The SSC Director made the final selection of approved Legacy Science projects, based on the TAC recommendation. Once the Director has allocated time to the successful Legacy Science projects, the SSC will make every effort to schedule and execute all of the allocated observing time.

Q:   What is the difference between a Legacy Science project and a General Observer (GO) investigation?

A:   There are three characteristics that distinguish the Spitzer Legacy Science Program from GO investigations:

• They must be large coherent science investigations, not reproducible by any reasonable number or combination of smaller General Observer programs;

• They must be programs whose scientific data, upon archiving, are of general and lasting importance to the broad community; and

• All raw and pipeline-processed data must enter the public domain immediately, thereby enabling timely and effective opportunities for follow-on observations and for archival research, with both Spitzer and with other observatories.

If a proposed investigation did not meet all of the these requirements, it was ineligible for consideration as a Legacy Science project.

Q:   Are there a minimum or (maximum) number of hours that are necessary for a proposed scientific investigation to be considered a Legacy Science project?

A:   There was no explicit minimum threshold of observing time for a Legacy Science project. However, the preceding description of Legacy Science projects suggests that programs of less that 100 - 200 hours would not satisfy the first requirement (i.e., such investigations could reasonably expect to be accomplished via the Spitzer General Observer program). There is no maximum cap to the number of observing hours. It should be kept in mind, however, that the Legacy Science Program will be limited to a total of 3000 hours in the first year of Spitzer operations, and to no more than 4000 hours over the first 18 months of the mission.

Q:   Can Legacy Science projects propose to use Astronomical Observation Templates (AOTs, or observing modes) that will not be commissioned at launch?

A:   Yes. Since there will be only one Legacy Science Call for Proposals, issued prior to launch, all projects' proposals must be submitted by the September 2000 deadline.

At the conclusion of the 60-day In-Orbit Checkout, Spitzer will feature four first-generation AOTs. The three second-generation AOTs will be commissioned eleven months after launch, and will be available for the second GO Call for Proposals.

Observation planning in general (and observing time estimates, in particular) involving the second-generation AOTs will carry greater uncertainties because their state of understanding and readiness will not be the same as for the first-generation AOTs that will be commissioned earlier. There will be clear instructions in the Legacy Science Call for Proposals as to how to estimate time requests for the three 'second-generation' AOTs. Needless to say, any Legacy Science observations requiring the 'second-generation' AOTs will not be scheduled until at least 11 months into the Spitzer mission.

Q:   Will follow-up of Legacy Science "discovery" targets be permitted as part of the Legacy Science project?

A:   Yes, but in a restricted manner. Such observations are regarded as "predictable second look" observations. The observations to be made must be described and justified in the Legacy Science proposal in as much detail as possible. In addition, the total hours awarded for such observations will be based on the recommendation of the TAC, and will be based on the scientific merit of the proposed observations. Since such "predicable second look" observations would be part of a Legacy Science project, the second-look data would enter the public domain immediately after pipeline-processing and verification.

Q:   How will the Legacy Science teams interact with the SSC and the Spitzer Instrument Teams?

A:   An essential element in the ultimate success of the Spitzer Legacy Science Program will be a strong interface between the Legacy Science teams, the SSC and the Spitzer Instrument Teams. We believe this is necessary to the success of the program. We have formed a Legacy Science Working Group, chaired by an SSC scientist, and having membership from all of the approved Legacy Science teams and the Spitzer Instrument Teams. The purpose of this working group is to provide a forum to facilitate technical and scientific exchange, to identify areas of common interests and common issues, and to develop collaborations and cooperative agreements between the many groups involved to most efficiently utilize the resources that are available.

In addition the SSC has identified a scientific liaison for each Legacy Science team. This member of the SSC science staff will support the team at the 20% level. The "Legacy Science Liaison" provides expert assistance in supporting all of the team needs in observation planning and scheduling, understanding the SSC data processing pipelines and browse quality products, and any other areas. Additionally we believe that each Legacy Science team needs to establish a strong presence at the SSC while planning their observational program and data reduction. This presence will probably be developed by SSC residence or extended visits of a team member. As part of the Legacy Call for Proposals, we have asked the proposing teams to address how they will meet these needs.

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