The NEWFIRM observing software: from design to implementation

NEWFIRM is the wide-field infra-red mosaic camera just delivered and commissioned on the Mayall 4-m telescope on Kitt Peak. As with other major instrumentation projects, the software was part of a design, development, implementation and delivery strategy. In this paper, we describe the final implementation of the NEWFIRM software from acquisition within a MONSOON controller environment, directed by the observation control system, to the quick-look functionality at the telescope and final delivery of standardized data products via the pipeline. NEWFIRM is, therefore, the culmination of several years of design and development effort on several fronts.