Introduction:
The Director has accepted the recommendation by the Working Group on Strategic Planet Initiatives to undertake a joint JWST/HST Director’s Discretionary program to characterize the atmospheric properties of terrestrial-mass exoplanets around nearby low-mass stars. Around 500 hours of JWST time and 250 orbits of HST time will be devoted to the Rocky Worlds program starting in 2024 (Cycles 3 and 32) and likely extending through early 2027. The observations will include mid-infrared observations of multiple secondary eclipses of more than a dozen transiting exoplanets and characterization of selected host star properties at UV wavelengths. The data taken will be rapidly released to the community and STScI will produce high-level data products.
STScI as an institution must maintain the highest level of integrity in its treatment of the observations, analysis tools and high-level data products associated with the Rocky Worlds (TBC) program. STScI staff members are entitled to pursue scientific research with public JWST and HST data. However, additional considerations apply when they have access to calibration and analysis tools or to high-level data products that are being developed with HST or JWST Project funds and are not yet public. STScI Policy III-B-7 gives general guidelines on ethical use of data; this document covers issues that are specific to the Rocky Worlds program.
Structure:
The final design and implementation of the data program and the production of high-level data products will be undertaken by a Core Implementation Team (CIT), working in conjunction with the Science Advisory Committee (SAC). The overall program will be coordinated by the CIT Lead and their Deputy, who has the final authority for decisions. The CIT Lead is the Exoplanet Mission Scientist, Nestor Espinoza, and Hannah Diamond-Lowe will serve as the Deputy. They will be assisted by an observing technical lead and data technical lead. The JWST Mission Head, Tom Brown, the Interim HST Mission Head, Julia Roman-Duval, and the Multi-Mission Project Scientist, Neill Reid, will serve as a Program Advisory Council (PAC) to provide advice on high-level issues, as needed.
Core Implementation Team
The CIT will be responsible for preparing the APT observing proposals, designing and implementing the observing schedule, processing the data, and preparing the high-level data products. CIT members will be drawn from the STScI staff. The CIT Lead may convene topic-specific working groups related to the implementation. The CIT Lead or their designate will keep the general community informed of progress, including regular briefings to the Space Telescope User Committee, and will provide an avenue for receiving their input.
Science Advisory Council
The SAC comprises 8-10 research scientists from the community who are committed to providing scientific advice to the CIT on scientific aspects of the implementation process. Specifically, they will advise on
- Selection of the appropriate targets
- Definition of the appropriate number of observations of each target
- Relative priorities for any data analysis tools developed by the CIT
The SAC will provide advice to STScI on interactions with the broader community, particularly with regard to the equitable release of all data products. They will solicit input from the broader community as needed.
The SAC will not provide functional support for basic operations, but they will assist in the science verification on high-level science products generated by the CIT, including advice on potential program adjustments. They will therefore have limited access to high-level data products.
SAC Membership
To establish continuity, three members of the Working Group have agreed to serve on the SAC:
Natasha Batalha (NASA Ames), Kevin France (Colorado) and Laura Kreidberg (MPIA).
The SAC membership will be representative, as far as is possible, of the broader exoplanet community, particularly spanning a range of institutional affiliations and career stages. Given the likely duration of the program, SAC membership is not open to graduate students but postdoctoral fellows will be considered. STScI will issue a call for nominations, including self-nominations, in late July 2024. Nominations should be submitted by email to exodd24@stsci.edu and should include
- The name of the nominee
- The home institution
- The career stage
- A brief (1 paragraph) summary of technical & scientific expertise, including a statement of how they can contribute to the overall program
The submissions will be reviewed by the CIT Leads and the SAC, in consultation with the PAC. The deadline for submissions is August 15 (tbc). Once recruitment is complete the full membership will be published.
Data Release Schedule
The Rocky Worlds program will have a carefully selected target list of terrestrial exoplanets orbiting M dwarf host stars. Each target will require multiple eclipse observations with JWST to search for evidence of atmospheres; a subset of host stars will be targeted for UV observations with HST. Those observations will be interspersed with other GO and DD programs throughout each cycle. For each target, the eclipse data will be combined by STScI and the combined product, together with the raw data files, will be made public through MAST after all observations of that particular target are taken. ( This is a placeholder. Feel free to adjust this proposed release strategy based on discussions with the SAC) This follows the recommendation of the Working Group to provide equitable access (see below for restrictions for CIT and SC members). HST observations of the host stars will be non-proprietary and will be available immediately.
Policy Requirements
General:
- The program implementation will be designed to achieve the science goals articulated by the Working Group on Strategic Planet Initiatives
- Any data products or analysis tools developed in the course of the Rocky Worlds program may not be used for personal research until they are made available to the general community.
SAC
- SAC members may not participate in submitting any publications based on Exo DD observations until that dataset has been public for at least 1 week (tbc)
- SAC members may participate in HST or JWST proposals or scientific publications based on, or supplementing, data taken for the Rocky Worlds program and/or enhanced data products associated with that program.
- There is no restriction on SAC members receiving funding for programs associated with Rocky Worlds.
CIT
- STScI staff working on the implementation team must clearly separate their functional work from any scientific research undertaken using these data or associated tools and data products.
- CIT members may not participate in submitting any publications based on Exo DD observations until that dataset has been public for at least 1 week (tbc)
- Members of the CIT may not serve as PIs on HST or JWST proposals that are associated directly with the Rocky Worlds programs. Those proposals include AR programs that aim to utilize Rocky Worlds data, Theory programs designed to support analysis of those data, or observing programs that aim to supplement the Rocky Worlds datasets.
- Members of the CIT may participate as co-Is in HST or JWST proposals that are associated with the Rocky Worlds programs. They must inform the CIT lead of their involvement in those proposals and they may not apply for or receive grant funding if those proposals are accepted.
Core implementation team leads: Roles and responsibilities
This is the structure from ULLYSES - feel free to adapt to better match the requirements & structure for Rocky Worlds
Implementations team lead
- Overall responsibility for program implementation, in consultation with the SAC and the scientific community
- Functions include target selection, observing strategy, instrument configuration, coordination of observations with those from other facilities, communications strategy, and concept for high-level data product
Observing technical lead
- Responsibility for the technical implementation of the observations
- Functions include development of APT files, planning the detailed schedule, oversight of the observation execution, and working with staff in the instrument and scheduling branches
Data technical lead
- Responsibility for the technical implementation of the data products
- Functions include detailed definition of the high-level science products, oversight of the production, verification and validation of the data products, development of enhanced community access to the data products, and working with staff in the instrument and
