The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

JWST is controlled from a Mission Operations Center (MOC) at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), which also runs the JWST science program. STScI issues annual calls for proposals (CFPs) for the General Observer programs. In between the CFPs, proposals for time-critical observations, or other observations that cannot be proposed to the annual call are considered for the Director’s Discretionary time. The scope of JWST’s competitively-selected programs range from large and Treasury programs that address multiple science goals and produce multi-use datasets to small programs that target important but specific science goals. All of the JWST data taken, including science programs and calibration data, are placed in the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) at STScI and made available to the original proposers within a day or two of the data being taken. After an exclusive use period that ranges from 0 to 12 months depending on the type of program, the data are also freely available to other astronomers for archival research and other purposes.

In response to the annual CFP, proposals are prepared using the Astronomer’s Proposal Tool (APT) software package, which allows the proposer to specify both the textual proposal information (e.g., Title, Abstract, investigators, etc.) and the specifics of the observations. The APT is a sophisticated software package that ensures appropriate selection of observing parameters, checks the feasibility of the observations, and determines the times of the year that the observations could be scheduled, including planning guide star availability. APT also calculates the total allocated time needed for the observations. The text of the scientific justification and other proposal sections are attached to the proposal as a PDF within APT.

In addition to APT, observers will use the JWST Exposure Time Calculator (ETC) to determine many of the observation parameters, and to ensure that the observations reach the depth required for the science. The APT and ETC together contain sophisticated data simulation tools to visualize potential JWST observations. APT and the ETC are documented in an extensive series of on-line pages known as the JWST User Documentation [126, JDox,]. JDox also documents the JWST data analysis tools.