_                   
                                                         |_|                  
      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  ***                        <)                    

HALCA RECOVERED

On July 18th, attitude control of HALCA was recovered. Three Reaction Wheels were used to stop the slow tumbling motion of the satellite, and detailed satellite checks, software reloading, and battery reconditioning were again undertaken. A test VLBI observation was carried out last weekend with the Usuda 64m antenna (and Usuda tracking station), with the data to be correlated at Mitaka. This run will test that there are no cobwebs in any of the hardware, and also that the ISAS reconstructed orbits after the long period of no Ku-link tracking (and orbit-altering thruster-firing last month) are sufficiently accurate for routine observing to recommence.

ISAS OPEN DAY

The last ever ISAS open day was held on Saturday, July 26th (last, as from October 1st ISAS will become part of JAXA). Displays related to the recently launched Hayabusa (MUSES-C) satellite took pride of place in the foyer of the main ISAS building, with the radio, X-ray and infra-red groups sharing the second floor meeting room in the new building. The VSOP team displayed the HALCA model, several VSOP-2 antenna test modules, a variety of posters, real-time internet links to other telescope sites in Japan, and a simple demonstration of the reflectivity and transmissivity of materials placed between a transmitting and receiving horn.

OHSUMI LOST

The Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science (forerunner to the current Institute of Space and Astronautical Science) launched Japan's first satellite in 1970 -- a 24 kilogram engineering satellite named Ohsumi. The satellite, named after the peninsula on which the launch site is located, re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on August 2nd after 33.5 years in orbit (and just two months before the end of ISAS!). Ohsumi's launch made Japan the fourth country to launch its own satellite on its own rocket.

PAST MEETINGS

VSOP team members recently attended the "Variable Radio Universe" Workshop at Parkes and the IAU General Assembly in Sydney. The workshop was held in honour of VSOP International Science Council co-chair Dave Jauncey's 65th birthday, which coincided within a few days of HALCA's recovery! A wide range of topics was covered at the meeting, from the earliest days of VLBI to the future of space VLBI, and touching on many of Dave's many interests in between. A number of VSOP results were presented during the Joint Discussion on Quasar Cores and Jets at the General Assembly. A poster on plans and progress with VSOP-2 was also displayed as part of the IAU Working Group on Future Large Scale Facilities meeting.

UPCOMING MEETINGS

"Radio Astronomy at 70: from Karl Jansky to microjansky" will be held from August 27th to 30th in Budapest, Hungary (see http://www.konkoly.hu/jenam03/).

                Editors: Phil Edwards and Hirax Hirabayashi