_                    
                                                         |_|                   
      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  ***                        <)                     
 

SCHEDULING

To `shed-ule' or `sked-ule', that is the question! In any case, a two-day meeting was held at ISAS on the 25th and 26th of September, to review the VSOP scheduling process from the long-term scheduling to the short-term, experiment by experiment, creation of schedule files for the satellite, tracking stations and ground radio telescopes. Dave Meier (JPL) had burnt a lot of midnight oil in order to have output from the first runs of the new version of his long-term scheduling software available. The new version, among other things, includes various correlator and tape-copier constraints, and includes the In-Orbit Checkout, General Observing Time, and Survey Program as separate distinct entities. The first runs were made with several different assumptions about correlator usage and satellite slew times, and enabled informed decisions to be made for the upcoming complete scheduling runs.

CONTACT WITH P.I.s

A cross-correlation was done recently between the VSOP news distribution list and the e-mail addresses of Principal Investigators or contact persons on all VSOP proposals, and weaker fringes than expected were found! As the VSOP news is the principal form of contact between the mission and proposers, all P.I.s or contact people not already on the VSOP news distribution list have been added to this list. In some instances where a person's e-mail addresses on the two lists differ, or where people are receiving their copy of the VSOP news from a third party, two copies of this VSOP news will have been received. Please advise PGE at the e-mail address below, and we'll ensure you aren't seeing double for too long. Note that, closer to the commencement of General Observing Time, the mission will be contacting P.I.s or their designated contact person individually about their experiment(s). If your e-mail address has changed since the submission of your VSOP proposal, please send an e-mail to submit@vsop.isas.ac.jp notifying us of the change.

SILVER ANNIVERSARY!

Congratulations are in order for the Effelsberg telescope, which has just celebrated its 25th anniversary. The occasion was marked with colloquia by Michael Grewing and Rainer Genzel, an official reception hosted by the mayor of Bad Muenstereifel, and tours through the Observatory. Saturday the 28th was designated a Day of Science, with a programme of talks, demos and real- time measurements for groups of amateur astronomers, members of the Max Planck Society, groups from high schools, and journalists. Herzlichen Glueckwunsch!

 
 
       Editors: Phil Edwards and Hirax Hirabayashi
    Contributors: Rolf Schwartz and Detlev Konigorski