_                    
                                                         |_|                   
      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  ***                        <)                     
 

INTEGRATION TESTING

First integration tests of the Muses-B flight module are continuing on schedule at ISAS. Testing will conclude next Friday. A successful partial deployment of the main antenna support booms was made on October 25th, and commands to initiate the sub-reflector deployment were tested the following day. Electrical tests of the radio astronomical system have continued this week.

M-V TEST FIRING

A 95 second test firing of the second stage of the M-V rocket was successfully made at the ISAS test facility in Noshiro, 500 kilometers north of Tokyo, on October 27th. This follows successful tests of the first stage in June, and the kick motor (4th stage) in September. The third stage is scheduled for testing in March next year. The amount of fuel in the first two stages of the M-V is almost exactly equal to the total fuel contained in the M-3SII rocket.

MEETINGS AT ISAS

At the same time the rocket firing was occurring, a lot of hot air was being generated at meetings within ISAS! Seriously however, an important series of meetings was held at ISAS over the last two weeks to review progress made both within Japan and on the extended international support network for the VSOP mission. The VSOP Science Operations Group (VSOG) met on Monday and Tuesday, and the VSOP International Science Council (VISC) convened on Wednesday and Thursday. Telemetry support and orbit determination concerns were discussed in meetings on the Friday and following Monday. All areas of the VSOP mission were discussed. At the conclusion of the VISC meeting H. Hirabayashi and D. Jauncey were appointed new VISC co-chairs, replacing M. Morimoto and A. Zensus. A highlight of the week was the performance, in Japanese, by the JPL "Zou-san singers" at the VISC meeting banquet. This may have provided the inspiration for others to try their hand at karaoke later in the week.

TO BE or NOT TO BE

K-4 or not K-4 -- that is the question! The last VSOP news referred to the K-4 format in the context of VSOP data recording. Unfortunately such a description is incorrect. The K-4 system (dating from 1988), like its predecessors the K-3 (1983), K-2 (1979) and K-1 (1977), were all developed by the Kashima group of the Communications Research Laboratory (CRL). The format used for recording VSOP satellite data, while based upon the K-4 system, is in fact significantly different -- the bandwidth is selectable up to a maximum of 32 MHz compared to a fixed 2 MHz for the K-4 system. So, it is "VSOP format", which made its debut this year, that will be used for the VSOP mission. The K-4 system is still alive and well, but refers to a different system. The CRL Kashima site is located in the city 90 km east of Tokyo, and should not be confused with several hamlets of the same name.

 
 
    Editors:  Hiratio Hirabayashi and O'Philia Edwards