_                    
                                                         |_|                   
      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  ***                        <)                     
 

SURVEY WORKING GROUP MEETING

The SWG meeting will be held at ISAS on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. A draft agenda for the meeting has been e-mailed to all those who have expressed interest in the Survey Program. A new record was set for Tokyo this summer with 37 consecutive days recording temperatures in excess of 30 C. Things have cooled slightly since then, and the humidity seems to be falling at last, but people attending the meeting should be prepared for warm weather.

ANTENNA TESTS

Tests of the MUSES-B satellite's tension-truss main antenna have been continuing at the Mitsubishi factory. Vibration tests and antenna deployment tests have been successfully carried out over recent months. One of the main difficulties with the deployment tests is simulating the zero-gravity environment in which the antenna will be deployed. Cranes, cables and balloons have all been used in tests so far, in conjunction with detailed simulations of the in-orbit deployment.

TRACKING MEETING

Last week a meeting was held at ISAS to discuss various tracking issues. Representatives from JPL and Green Bank attended the two-day meeting, which addressed matters ranging from tracking of the satellite immediately after launch to keeping track of the tracking station schedule files, logs etc.

ISAS OPEN DAY

The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science held its annual open day on Saturday 29th July. Approximately 12,000 people attended over the course of the day. The VSOP project had a number of posters, models and computer displays on show for the occasion.

RECRUITS

Three new members have joined the VSOP team at the National Astronomical Observatory in Mitaka. Victor Migenes has joined as an NAO COE fellow having just completed a post-doc in Australia, Tomofumi Umemoto is a COE fellow fresh from Nobeyama, and Shinji Horiuchi has joined as a NRO post-doc.

ANTI-DISASTER DAY

September 1st is Anti-Disaster Day in Japan, commemorating the destructive Kantou earthquake of 1923. Drills and activities have taken on an increased sense of importance this year with the Kobe quake still very fresh in people's minds. And if that wasn't enough, a small quake (4.1 on the Richter scale) centred near Nikko gave Tokyo a gentle shaking to mark the occasion.

 
 
       Editors: Phil Edwards and Hirax Hirabayashi