Visualization tools to support proposal submission

Many scientific observational programs require the Field Of View (FOV) or aperture to have a specific orientation on the sky. Since orientation requirements have a very strong impact on other aspects of the execution of the observation, an observer must have the ability to visualize the orientation of the science aperture and determine the effect of the orientation on the possible scheduling of the observation. We are prototyping an interactive, visual tool (The Visual Target Tuner, VTT) for fine-tuning the target location and orientation. To make efficient use of any instrument the user needs to understand the various modes of the instrument and then calculate exposure times or signal-to-noise ratios for many different kinds of observations. Thus, the Exposure Time Calculator (ETC) is an essential tool that is used by various users for many different purposes. We are prototyping a more dynamic graphical ETC in which the user can simulate to some extent and determine the effect of various input parameters. This interactive exposure time calculator will not only be intuitive but will provide various users the different level of detailed information they desire. The VTT and ETC are Web-based tools that can be used by themselves or as part of the Scientist's Expert Assistant, for the Next Generation Space Telescope proposal management system. Currently, the tools are being developed with the requirements of HST in mind, but will also be easily adaptable to other observatories. The underlying software for the tools is an object-oriented Java-based applet. The object-oriented nature of the design is intended to allow the tools to easily expand their features or to be customized. By making the system Java-based, we gain the ability to easily distribute the applet across a wide set of operating systems and users. In addition to executing the tools as a Java applet, it can be loaded onto a user's workstation and run as an application independent of a Web browser.