_                   
                                                         |_|                  
      V   V   SSSS   OOO   PPPP                 \__      |_|      __/         
      V   V  S      O   O  P   P                   --____/ \____--            
      V   V   SSS   O   O  PPPP                    _ _ _ --- _ _ _            
       V V       S  O   O  P                      |_|_|_|  @|_|_|_|           
        V    SSSS    OOO   P                             o-o                  
                                                          /                   
      ***  N    E    W    S  ***                        <)                    

ANNOUNCEMENT OF OPPORTUNITY

With HALCA's successful maneuver to a sun-angle of 90 degrees, and the continuation of NASA funding as a result of a NASA's Senior Review, and a diminishing pool of observations remaining to be made, the VSOP International Science Council (VISC) endorsed the release of a fourth Announcement of Opportunity for VSOP observing. "AO4" and supporting documentation will be released next week, and the deadline for proposals will be 24:00 UT, Monday 2nd October, 2000. Observations from AO4 proposals may be observed as early as January 2001, and information about the quality of (u,v) coverage over the sky will be made available from the AO page of the VSOP web site. With the 18 month proprietary period having elapsed for many observations, PI's will have to make a strong case for the re-observation of any source. Lists of observed sources, and of sources that have been scheduled but not yet observed, will be available from the VSOP web site next week. As with AO3, proposals can be submitted by e-mail: full details will be given in the AO.

HALCA STATUS

The current position of HALCA's apogee with respect to the Sun and Earth, combined with constraints from the three reaction wheel mode of operation, make it difficult to obtain optimal star tracker coverage to confirm and stabilize HALCA's attitude. As large slews must be made as a series of smaller maneuvers, each one at present during a Kagoshima commanding pass, any slight pointing offset can disrupt the planned series of maneuvers, meaning HALCA is unable to reach the planned source by the appointed time. Several observations have had to be cancelled this month as a result, but the observing efficiency is expected to improve in the next month or so as HALCA's orbit precesses and more experience is gained with three reaction wheel maneuvering.

IAU 205

IAU Symposium 205, "Galaxies and their Constituents at the Highest Angular Resolutions", was very successfully held during the General Assembly in Manchester last week. A wide range of talks and posters covering the entire electromagnetic spectrum were presented. Y. Murata gave a concise overview of VSOP observations to date, and several other presentations included the results from VSOP observations. H. Hirabayashi described the prospects for the future of Space VLBI. The day before IAU 205 started VISC and VSOP-2 meetings were held. Efforts to prepare the proposal for the VSOP-2 spacecraft, for submission to ISAS are continuing, and were reviewed at the VSOP-2 meeting.

ISAS OPEN DAY

ISAS Open Day is tomorrow, Saturday 26th August -- All Welcome!

                Editors: Phil Edwards and Hirax Hirabayashi