_          
                                             |_|         
 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  ***               <)               

MISSION UPDATE

When it became clear that the long eclipses of the satellite by the Earth meant that observing would not be possible, and that scheduled In-Orbit Checkout (IOC) observations would have to be cancelled, several experiments were quickly organized in the remaining few days before the eclipse length grew too long. The last few weeks these observations have been subject to intense scrutiny at the Mitaka and Socorro correlators, though unfortunately with - at the time of writing - no sign of fringes appearing on the space baselines. The experiments did highlight several areas in which improvements are necessary, with perhaps the most notable being in the time corrections files that the tracking stations produce to correct for the delays between the tracking station's clock and the time stamp attached to the data stream on the satellite. Searches for fringes, and operational upgrades, are continuing.

ECLIPSES

Power usage on the satellite in and out of eclipses has been closely monitored over the last two weeks. The satellite also experienced its second eclipse by the moon, which was immediately followed by a long Earth eclipse, giving the batteries their severest test to date. The satellite was moved into `safe-hold' position (with its -X axis pointing toward the sun and the satellite spinning at one revolution per 12 minutes about this axis) during the longest eclipses. The eclipses peaked at the end of last week, and will cease completely (for this current cycle) by the end of next week. Start-up checks of the on-board system will then take place, and the next fringe finding tests are scheduled to restart in mid-May. There are three eclipse-free months before the next cycle of eclipses. The eclipses in the next cycle are shorter, and should not have a major impact on observations.

SOCORRO MEETING

Next week, IAU Colloquium 164, `Radio Emission from Galactic and Extragalactic Compact Sources', will be held at Socorro. During the colloquium a VSOP Users Meeting will be held. A summary of this session will be posted on the VSOP WWW page. Also during the meeting the VSOP International Science Council (VISC) will meet, as will the Global VLBI Working Group (GVWG).

RIDE ON HARUKA!

You, too, can take a ride on Haruka (the Japanese version of HALCA)!! No, not the satellite, but the train of the same name... which runs between Osaka and the Kansai International Airport. Many Japanese will be doing just this next week as the `Golden Week' series of holidays starts. Most, regrettably, are oblivious to the golden antenna swinging silently overhead...

 
       Editors: Phil Edwards and Hirax Hirabayashi