4 August 2014

Spitzer Space Telescope Cycle 11 Call for Proposals

Lisa Storrie-Lombardi Las Cumbres Observatory

Key Dates:

  • Large & Exploration Science Letters of Intent Due: 28 August 2014
  • Proposal Deadline: 29 October 2014, 4:00 pm PDT

On behalf of NASA and the Spitzer Space Telescope project, the Spitzer Science Center (SSC) at Caltech is pleased to announce the release of the Cycle 11 call for proposals (CP). Both the NASA Astrophysics and Planetary Science Divisions are providing support for Spitzer operations. The Cycle 11 CP solicits Exploration Science (ES) General Observer, regular General Observer (GO), and Snapshot proposals. Cycle 11 programs will execute in the February 2015 - September 2016 time frame. We expect to select 6,700-9,200 hours of scheduling priority 1 programs and 1,000 hours of priority 2 snapshot programs.

Major changes in the Cycle 11 call for proposals, compared to previous cycles, are summarized in the Executive Summary.

Priority in the selection of Cycle 11 will be given to programs that highlight:

  • Astro2010 science themes
  • Planetary science programs observing targets in our solar system.
  • Investigations that concentrate on developing the scientific landscape that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will explore, or that will help maximize the JWST scientific return.

In this cycle proposers are especially encouraged to consider compelling planetary science campaigns (long-term/multiple observations) that focus on the changing nature of solar system objects over time. Many of these objects are possible future mission targets as outlined in the most recent planetary decadal survey. Proposers should identify how these observations contribute to the body of scientific knowledge needed to help refine objectives for future missions and aid in the understanding of the origin or evolution of the targeted body. These major observing projects should be of lasting importance to the broad planetary community with the Spitzer observational data yielding a substantial and coherent database that can also be used by subsequent planetary researchers.

All programmatic and technical information for Cycle 11 is available electronically from the Proposal Kit section of the Spitzer Science Center website.

Investigators worldwide from all types of institutions are eligible to submit proposals in response to this CP. Joint Hubble Space Telescope or Chandra observations can be proposed as part of a Spitzer Cycle 11 proposal.

All proposals must be submitted electronically using Spot, the SSC proposal planning and submission software. The S19 version of Spot is available from the SSC website and via the auto-update feature in Spot. Proposers must use this version of the software to submit their proposals. The required Cycle 11 proposal templates will be available at the Proposal Kit website in late August, and the proposal submission system will also open at that time.

Any questions should be addressed by email to the Spitzer Helpdesk.