THE STRATOSPHERIC TERAHERTZ OBSERVATORY WAS READY FOR ITS SECOND ANTARCTIC FLIGHT STO 2 IN THE 2015 2016 AUSTRAL SUMMER. HOWEVER DUE TO THE LATE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STRATOSPHERIC ANTI CYCLONE AND POOR SURFACE CONDITIONS STO 2 WAS UNABLE TO LAUNCH. THE DECISION WAS MADE TO WINTER OVER THE STO 2 PAYLOAD IN ITS HANGAR FOR LAUNCH DURING THE 2016 2017 ANTARCTIC CAMPAIGN. FUNDS TO COVER PREPARATIONS AND DEPLOYMENT OF KEY MEMBERS OF THE INSTRUMENT TEAM IN SUPPORT OF THE CAMPAIGN ARE BEING PROVIDED BY NASA UNDER THE EXISTING GRANT. HOWEVER THESE FUNDS ARE ONLY SUFFICIENT TO COVER EXPENSES UP TO DECEMBER 31ST 2016. HERE WE REQUEST RESOURCES FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2017 TO SUPPORT MISSION OPERATIONS PAYLOAD RECOVERY AND SCIENCE OPERATIONS. THESE ELEMENTS WILL ENABLE THE TEAM TO DELIVER FULLY ON STO 2S SCIENCE MISSION AND MAXIMIZE NASAS DEMONSTRATED INVESTMENT IN STO 2S SUCCESS. STO 2 ADDRESSES A KEY PROBLEM IN MODERN ASTROPHYSICS UNDERSTANDING THE LIFE CYCLE OF THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM SM STO 2 WILLSURVEY APPROXIMATELY ONE FOURTH OF THE SOUTHERN GALACTIC PLANE IN THE DOMINANT INTERSTELLAR COOLING LINE C 158 M AND THE IMPORTANT STAR FORMATION TRACER N 205M. IN ADDITION STO 2 WILL PERFORM PATH FINDING OBSERVATIONS OF THE 63 M O LINE TOWARD SELECTED REGIONS. WITH 1 ARCMINUTE ANGULAR RESOLUTION STO 2 WILL SPATIALLY RESOLVE ATOMIC IONIC AND MOLECULAR CLOUDS OUT TO 10 KPC THE STO 2SURVEY WILL BE CONDUCTED AT UNPARALLELED SENSITIVITY LEVELS. STO 2 WILL UNIQUELY PROBE THE PIVOTAL FORMATIVE AND DISRUPTIVE STAGES IN THE LIFE CYCLE OF INTERSTELLAR CLOUDS AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GLOBAL STAR FORMATION RATES AND THE PROPERTIES OF THE SM. COMBINED WITH PREVIOUS H AND CO SURVEYS STO 2 WILL CREATE 3 DIMENSIONAL MAPS OF THE STRUCTURE DYNAMICS TURBULENCE ENERGY BALANCE AND