Call for Cycle 32 Bridge Programs
Context
We are offering a special HST observing opportunity to the astronomy community to propose for "Bridge Programs" with ACS/WFC and WFC3/IR, in anticipation of likely operational changes in Cycle 33. Those changes are driven by the expanding gap between operating costs and funding levels, and subsequent NASA direction to reduce operating costs for HST relative to FY2023/2024 by ~10% in FY2025 and >20% in FY2026 and beyond. STScI and NASA are working to preserve Hubble’s unique capabilities, critical mission operations, and support for HST's users, but this funding scenario will result in significant impacts going forward. Specifically, we anticipate not offering ACS/WFC and WFC3/IR for new programs in the Cycle 33 Call for Proposals as well as a ramp-down in science operations support for these instruments after Cycle 32.
Scope
STScI and NASA are providing the community with a limited opportunity to propose for observations that will contribute to an orderly transition of science programs from ACS/WFC and WFC3-IR to other instruments on HST and JWST.
Proposals for “Bridge programs” must meet one of the following selection criteria:
- The science goals can only be achieved through observations with ACS/WFC or WFC3-IR; e.g. the source is too bright to allow infrared observations with JWST, or the observations require a technical capability (filter, mode) that is only available with ACS/WFC or WFC3-IR.
- The proposed observations will contribute significantly to transitioning science programs or areas from ACS/WFC or WFC3-IR to other instruments. These might include, for example, cross-calibration measurements.
The Call for Bridge Programs is not designed to accommodate proposal that combine ACS/WFC and WFC3-IR to obtain observing efficiencies through coordinated parallel observations unless the proposal also meets one of the above criteria. Proposals that fail to meet either criteria will be rejected as non-compliant.
Program Parameters
All proposals should be submitted as Cycle 32 GO programs using APT. The general policies and procedures described in the HST Cycle 32 Call for Proposals apply to Bridge program proposals with the following exceptions:
- Approximately 300 orbits will be made available for this opportunity.
- Individual proposals should generally not exceed 25 orbits. Larger requests can be submitted but they will require an exceptional justification.
- Joint programs with JWST are permitted provided that the JWST data are relevant to cross-instrument calibration.
- Joint programs with other facilities are not permitted.
- Requests for future cycle observations are not permitted.
- Archival (AR) or combined GO-AR programs are not permitted.
- Snapshot (SNAP) programs are not permitted.
- Target of Opportunity (ToO) programs are not permitted.
- Page limits: Proposals are limited to 4 pages for the Scientific Justification and the Description of the Observations; one additional page is available for the Special Requirements, Coordinated Observations and Justify Duplications sections.
- The justification for inclusion as a Bridge Program must be given in the Special Requirements section of the proposal. In particular, the justification must describe how the observations meet the Bridge Program selection criteria.
Review Process
Bridge Program proposals must be submitted by Thursday November 7, 2024 at 8:00 PM EST
Proposals will be sent for an initial review by external panelists, chosen to be experts in the relevant science area. Each proposal will be reviewed by 5 external panelists who will independently grade against the following criteria:
- In-field Impact: impact within the immediate subfield of the proposal.
- Out-of-field Impact: impact beyond the immediate subfield of the proposal. This does not mean the proposal must impact all of astronomy.
- Suitability as a Bridge Program: the need for ACS/AFC or WFC3-IR observations, the justification of requested resources, the justification of any special requirements.
Proposals will be scored using the following rubric:
Grade | In-field Impact | Out-of-field Impact | Suitability as a Bridge Program |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Transformative advancement in the sub-field. The proposed program has the potential for transformative results in the immediate sub-field of the proposal. The program will transform understanding of the objects, class of objects, or specialist topics under study. | Transformative implications beyond the sub-field. The proposed program has transformative implications for one or more other sub-fields of astronomy. The impacts of the program are extremely broad and/or extremely significant. | Extremely well-justified. The program's science goals can only be achieved with the proposed observations. Only ACS/WFC or WFC3-IR are capable of collecting the required observations and/or the observations are essential to laying a foundation for future work with other instrumentation. All aspects of the requested observations have been well justified and are necessary for the success of the science program. The observing plan uses resources very efficiently. |
2 | Major advancement in the sub-field. The proposed program has the potential for major advancement in the immediate sub-field of the proposal. The program will provide major advances in understanding of the objects, class of objects, or specialist topics under study. | Major implications beyond the sub-field. The proposed program has major implications for one or more other sub-fields of astronomy. The impacts of the program are broad and/or significant.
| Well-justified. The program's science goals will certainly be achieved with the proposed observations. ACS/WFC or WFC3-IR offer major advantages over other facilities for collecting the required observations and/or the observations are of importance in enabling future work with other facilities. The need for new data is clear. Most aspects of the requested observations have been reasonably well justified and they will contribute to the success of the science program. The observing plan uses resources efficiently. |
3 | Moderate advancement in the sub-field. The proposed program has the potential for moderate advancement in the immediate sub-field of the proposal. The program will provide moderate advances in understanding of the objects, class of objects, or specialist topics under study. | Moderate implications beyond the sub-field. The proposed program has moderate implications for one or more other sub-fields of astronomy. The impacts of the program are moderate in scope and significance. | Some justification lacking. The program's science goals will be achieved with the proposed observations. ACS/WFC or WFC3-IR offer some advantages over other facilities for collecting the required observations and/or the data would be of some use in enabling future work with other facilities. The need for new data over archival data is discussed but not compelling. Some aspects of the requested observations have been justified but other aspects are lacking adequate justification and it is not clear that all are needed. The observing plan could use resources more efficiently. |
4 | Minor advancement in the sub-field. The proposed program has the potential for minor advancement in the immediate sub-field of the proposal. The program will provide minor advances in understanding of the objects, class of objects, or specialist topics under study. | Minor implications beyond the sub-field. The proposed program has minor implications for other sub-fields of astronomy. The impacts of the program are limited in scope and significance. | Many aspects poorly justified. The program's science goals will probably be achieved with the proposed observations. ACS/WFC or WFC3-IR offer minor advantages over other facilities for collecting the required observations and/or the data would be of limited use in enabling observations with other facilities. The need for new data over archival data is not discussed in depth or is not clear. Many aspects of the proposed observations have been poorly justified. There are questions about many aspects of the observing set up. The observing plan uses resources inefficiently. |
5 | Limited advancement in the sub-field. The proposed program has limited or no potential for advancement in the immediate sub-field of the proposal. The program will not advance understanding of the objects, class of objects, or specialist topics under study. | Limited implications beyond the sub-field. The proposed program has little or no implications for other sub-fields of astronomy. The impacts of the program are extremely limited in scope and significance. | Very poorly justified. The program's science goals will not be achieved with the proposed observations and/or ACS/WFC or WFC3-IR offer little to no advantage over other facilities for collecting the required observations. The need for new data over archival data is not discussed. The proposed observations are poorly justified or not explained at all. The observing set up is unlikely to be successful. |
The proposals will be ranked using the initial grades. Up to 40 of the highest-ranked proposals will be passed on for discussion by a multi-disciplinary panel with membership drawn from the most recent annual Telescope Allocation Committee reviews. The panel will grade the proposals and provide the STScI Director with a ranked list for potential implementation.
Schedule
- Proposal deadline: Thursday November 7, 2024 at 8pm EST
- Initial Grades due: December 12, 2024
- Distribution of top-ranked proposals to multi-disciplinary panel: December 16, 2024
- Panel meeting: January 2025
- Final selection & notifications: February 2025
Implementation
STScI will make every effort to schedule observations from the Bridge Programs in the Cycle 32 timeframe. Programs with fewer constraints (e.g., timing and ORIENT constraints, links between visits) are more likely to schedule sooner. Some observations may be delayed to Cycle 33. In that case we will not be able to guarantee full support and the observations will be treated as shared risk, with no opportunity to submit HOPRs should they prove unsuccessful.
Bridge Program observations will not execute beyond Cycle 33. Programs will be terminated at that time.
Funding
Limited funding will be available to support Bridge Programs. Total grants are unlikely to exceed $30,000 per program.
Questions
Contact the STScI HST Help Desk for support.