_                   
                                                         |_|                  
      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  ***                        <)                    
                                                                              

TRACKING STATION FRINGES

The last few weeks have seen great progress at the Tidbinbilla (Canberra) and Robledo (Madrid) tracking stations, with fringes being found to HALCA via these tracking stations at the both the Penticton and Socorro correlators. Congratulations to those at the DSN and JPL who have been working hard to get these tracking stations on-line, and of course to the correlator personnel for their prompt handling of tapes and feedback to the stations. All five tracking stations are now working to some degree -- though some work remains before all tracking stations are producing all the necessary logs and files required with the tapes for correlation.

OBSERVATIONS

The European VLBI Network session in September included seven VSOP experiments. These were the first observations after upgrading to thin tape recording for most of the EVN stations, and included some of the early observations with Tidbinbilla and Robledo. Results from the correlators are eagerly awaited.

VSOG STAFF

The VSOP team bid farewell to two members this week, with the return of Ed Fomalont to the USA, after a 15 month stay in Japan, and the departure of Victor Migenes to the University of Guanajuato, Mexico, after two years in Japan. Ed, who has become the long-term scheduler for VSOP observations, will continue in this role and be a regular visitor to ISAS in the future. Vic will also continue his involvement in the VSOP Survey Program planning and analysis. We are pleased to be able to report that Misha Popov is now back at work in Moscow after recovering from surgery. It appears the work he undertook in his year at ISAS was literally back-breaking!

JUST SAY NOH!

Prof. Nobuki Kawashima recently commemorated his retirement from ISAS with a performance of the Japanese Noh drama `Tenko'. A keen amateur, Prof. Kawashima was accorded the rare honour of being allowed to perform the main role at the Yokohama Noh Theatre. The main research interest of Prof. Kawashima had in recent years been the detection of gravitational waves, and his group had built a small laser interferometer at one corner of the ISAS campus. The experiment was named `Tenko' after the Noh drama, which is about a drum: the vibrations of the drum-skin symbolizing the vibrations induced by gravitational waves in the interferometer. A number of VSOG members attended the performance, and Hirax was asked before the event if Noh was similar to the more widespread drama form of Kabuki. `No,' Hirax replied, `Noh is not like Kabuki, even when it is performed by Nobuki!'

 
                   Editors: Phil Edwards and Hirax Hirabayashi