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The double anonymous proposal review process will require some changes in the way proposers write their proposals. We have written some Proposer Guidelines to describe these changes and aid in the proposal preparation. As one will note, the changes are mostly in the style, structure, and grammar used in describing the work done in the field, and the preparedness of the proposers to do the work. While not a lot of work, it will not be as simple as resubmitting previous versions of the same manuscript.

How can we be sure that accepted HST proposals are actually feasible if the TAC can't assess the team's past experience?

It is STScI's responsibility to ensure that the community has equal access to HST, regardless of past experience. All accepted HST proposals are assigned a Program Coordinator (PC) who works with the PI and team to finalize the Phase II submission. The PCs are highly experienced and will flag particularly challenging proposals for further technical review. In addition, all proposals with PIs who are new to HST are assigned a Contact Scientist (CS) from the appropriate Instrument Division support team; the CS will provide both technical and scientific advice as necessary. If a program proves to be infeasible, it will not be executed.

How do the reviewers assess the proposers' responsible use of the telescope, or likelihood of scientific return?

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