As a Contact Scientist for Cycle 6, there is a lot to do. We are tasked with the
responsibility of providing the scientific interface and assistance to the Principal
Investigator, an astronomer who has successfully proposed to do science with the HST and
is preparing his/her proposal for submission and final detailed formatting prior to
execution. This involves advising the astronomer on the proper or most efficient use
of the instrument(s) requested, identifying structural problems which might affect the
overall scientific program, and generally acting as an advocate for the astronomer
throughout the process of proposal preparation, scheduling, execution, and with the
logistics of data analysis. Added to that are various Instrument Scientist duties, in
my case acting as Data Quality Assessment Coordinator for the GHRS. All days are busy.
There is always a great deal to do. Occasionally we can even manage to get some of our
research done. Following is just a sample of one day in the life of this Contact
Scientist...
Mondays start off like just about any other day, but often times more chaotic than
most, and today is a classic example. I arrived this morning to the usual 60+ email
messages including various reports, notices, and problems. It often takes the entire
day just to get through the messages because of the diversions and problems one has to
deal with from the start. And right off the bat today is email from a PI who has
identified a problem with his proposal and needs some help. The first step is to forward
the mail to the appropriate individual within the Institute to try and resolve the issue.
While waiting for a response, I sketch out a short list of the items that must be done
today. While doing so, a call comes in requesting me to attend a meeting tomorrow for a
discussion on software related issues to consider for long term improvements, mainly with
an effort to provide more input from the scientific side of the fence. Ok, will do.
That's two meetings tomorrow already on the schedule.
I continue working my way through the email and come across another proposal problem.
This case is a possible duplication of science being done by two different astronomers.
Such is not unprecedented since this type of check can't accurately be done until all
proposals are received for a given cycle, and as the programs are being worked by the
Program Coordinators (PC), or changes occur to certain programs, these things keep
popping up. I do some double checking with the target list and formatted list of the
affected proposals, then respond to the email providing my comments. Often, in the case
of true duplications, we must recommend data to be obtained by one of the scientists be
embargoed, i.e. not be allowed to release for publication, until the other executes and
is no longer proprietary. This means some science can be on hold for up to a year. Well,
that's chewed up a good part of the morning and I still haven't made it all the way
through the mail and reports.
Just after finishing the investigation and sending out my comments, I get another call
from one of the Instrument Scientists (IS). Turns out we have another proposal which
needs to have a more accurate centering sequence put in to prevent the program from
failing. After discussing the situation at length with the IS, and getting all my notes
together, I talk to the PC, informing her what we need to do. I then call the astronomer
who is 2 time zones away to discuss the details and suggest he send in a statement of the
problem and scientific justification which I'll append to my summary of the change to be
requested. Basically, the centering maneuver will take so much time, that we must ask for
an additional orbit to assure success and prevent taking time away from the science
exposures. Once the astronomer sends in the memo, I can put everything together and send
it out to the rest of the committee which will vote on the change request and then send
a recommendation to the Directors Office for consideration.
Well, now I've got 15 minutes to complete my monthly research status report. Done.
Now on to reviewing submitted Cycle 6 proposals. I have a stack of Phase II drafts of
proposals to review which had been placed on the chair by a PC. These are the detailed
submissions including the targets, and all activities including acquisitions, peakups,
exposures, calibrations, etc. that the astronomer wants to do. It is the CSs task to
verify that the current format of the proposal is acceptable with respect to the science
to be obtained, i.e. will the astronomer get what he/she wants, and is the proposal
structured to provide an efficient use of the spacecraft? I manage to get through four
proposals, talking to the PC on one them, before finally getting to take a short break
for a bit to eat. I usually end up eating at my desk through my lunch hour because
there's so much to do. But while taking a stroll down the hallway to pick up my mail,
I get cornered an asked to attend yet another meeting tomorrow. That's three! Back to
the office to put it on my calendar and to send a notice of approval to my PC about the
proposals I just finished reviewing.
To get documentation for the latest meeting, the head of the committee indicates I
need additional system configuration privileges set up. So email is sent to the system
managers. There always seems to be some little thing that hasn't been setup, or is a new
feature I need. So, just as with proposal problems, these things pop up from time to
time.
Next, I need to determine the status of the GHRS Calibration Plan in order to provide
a report to the Data Quality Committee later this week. Off to an impromptu meeting with
the calibration Instrument Scientist. From there, I take a short diversion to discuss
some Data Quality issues with one of our Data Analysts, since we're trying to put
together more details for procedures and products to be delivered to the astronomers.
Upon returning to my office and jotting down my notes, more email to read. It never
stops. All day long we get mail coming in. The latest is the change request from the
astronomer I talked to earlier in the day. I put together the summary and all details and
send it out to the committee for review. It's now 5:30, but I still have 3 more hours to
go. Twice a week, while my wife is in class at Johns Hopkins University, I was late
putting in about 10-11 hours. I begin the review of the remaining two proposals left by
my PC, and a quick review of the material to be discussed at two of our meetings tomorrow.
Even though it is late, another Institute Scientist comes in around 7pm to ask questions
about another instrument. This time I can't help, but often, I can. Since I used to work
in the Planning and Scheduling System as the Lead Operations Astronomer for Proposal
Preparation, I had to know something about all the instruments being used. It's training
and expertise that often comes in handy.
Around 8:30 I finally finish for the day, and believe it or not, I actually have
completed most of the items on the short list of things to do despite all the diversions
throughout the day. A rare treat. Still got a couple that won't get done for another two
or three days because of the meetings tomorrow, but then, I'll just put them on the next
short list for another day.
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