The SOFIA Demonstration Science Program

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy is expected to begin science operations in late 2006, following successful completion of the observatory readiness review. The very limited science time allocations during the initial observing period will be split between guaranteed time for the instrument teams and the Demonstration Science Program. The purpose of the latter is to carry out an intellectually broad-based set of observations which would: 1) demonstrate the capabilities of the SOFIA Observatory and its initial suite of instruments, 2) produce a dataset of considerable scientific value, disseminated quickly to the community, and 3) yield results and interpretations having high visibility amongst potential SOFIA users. A Call for Proposals for participation in the Demonstration Science Program will be issued in early Spring 2005. Brief proposals will be solicited from throughout the U.S. astronomical community, and an external panel will select four or five of the proposing PIs to be members of the Demonstration Science Team (DST). Chosen DST members will receive funding to plan and carry out the program, working with instrument team representatives to rapidly analyze, interpret and publish the results. Some early release observations are expected to emerge from this program.