_                    
                                                         |_|                   
      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  ***                        <)                     
 

VSOP PROPOSALS

Statistics on the VSOP proposals are continuing to be refined. A breakdown by proposal type has yielded 118 AGN, 25 Maser and 7 Other proposals. An examination of the requested frequency band for each experiment revealed that 5 GHz and 22 GHz experiments were almost equally popular, with roughly half the number of 1.6 GHz experiments. Of particular interest is the degree of oversubscription of the available satellite time. Approximately 1000 orbits are available for General Observing Time observations during the 17-month Phase 1 period. If every experiment in every proposal was performed with the `preferred' number of orbits and requested number of monitoring epochs, over 4000 orbits would be needed! (And that doesn't include time to change between sources...) If the `acceptable' number of orbits was used, the factor of oversubscription is still well over two. These raw numbers don't take into account the fact that some sources were the subject of several proposals etc, however they do give a clear indication of the interest in space VLBI. The demand for individual ground radio telescopes and arrays is currently being determined.

MUSES-B ORBIT

With data from both the test firings of M-V rocket stages and the latest calculation of the MUSES-B satellite's mass now in hand, the rocket group at ISAS has re-determined the the nominal initial orbit. The apogee height - previously given as 22,000 km - is now 19,500 (+4000/-3000) km. The perigee height remains unchanged at 1,000 km. The new nominal orbit has an orbital period of about 5.9 hours, down from 6.6 hours. As MUSES-B will be the first launch of the M-V rocket though, the uncertainties are still quite large.

SATELLITE INTEGRATION

The final integration tests of the MUSES-B satellite at ISAS are progressing. With a firm deadline in July next year for the testing to be finished, in order to transport the satellite to the Kagoshima Space Center for launch, the test schedule has little leeway for slippage. A delay in the delivery of the phase-calibration unit for the on-board radio-astronomy system has VSOG members working hard to find a way to catch up with the integration testing schedule. Some may have to lose some of their New Years holidays!

NEW SCIENTIST ?

The 25th of November issue of New Scientist carries an article on ISAS and some of its future missions. A small section is devoted to the VSOP project. While the text is not as accurate as it could have been (the MUSES-B main antenna is supported by six booms, not - like a starfish - five), the article is accompanied by an attractive photo of the project scientist standing by the 1:10 model of the deployed antenna.

 
 
       Editors: Phil Edwards and Hirax Hirabayashi