_                   
                                                         |_|                  
      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  ***                        <)                    

HALCA TELEMETRY LOST AGAIN

HALCA's DHU (Data Handling Unit) failed again last weekend, forcing the postponement of this week's observations. Following the last such failure HALCA's "safe-hold" mode has been disabled, conserving thruster fuel and making for an easier recovery operation. As reported last issue, HALCA is now in an eclipse cycle, which also makes rebooting the satellite much easier. However, the eclipses occur during HALCA's perigee passage, whereas commanding sessions from the Kagoshima Space Center are scheduled for the longer apogee passes. It will be another week or so before the `right' KSC pass occurs, and at least another 3-4 days after that before observing can recommence.

PENTICTON CORRELATOR NORMALIZATION ERROR

The Penticton correlator has reported an error in the amplitude scaling of 4-level-sampled data correlated and exported to FITS prior to February 14, 1999. Existing FITS files from the Penticton correlator may be accurately corrected by applying a global (all antennas) amplitude correction factor of 0.82 (multiplied) to the final CL table using the AIPS task CLCOR (with ANTENNAS=0, OPCODE='GAIN', CLCORPRM=0.82,0). Alternatively, the Penticton correlator will re-export affected data (with corrected FITS export software) on request from PIs. More information may be obtained from the VSOP www site's Data Reduction page.

VSOG MEMBERS

Jim Lovell's two year Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) postdoc ended earlier this month, and he has returned to Australia to take up a post-doc at the Australia Telescope National Facility. Jim's many contributions to scheduling, log-file management, web-site development, VSOP Survey Program planning, and general systems administration, not to mention his scientific output, were of great value to the mission and he is already being greatly missed. Despite some concerns at flight-time, Jim Lovell re-entered Australia safely, but there are no plans for a movie of the journey!

MESON MUSIC FOR MUSES-B

Three days after the successful VSOP second anniversary press release, the VISC co-chairs, Dave Jauncey and Hirax Hirabayashi, attended a concert by the Meson Ensemble in Yokohama at the invitation of Toshio Inoue, a violinist and the HALCA 8m antenna chief engineer from Mitsubishi Electric Corporation. Schubert's "Symphony No. 5", Mahler's "Adagietto", and two pieces by Ravel were performed to warm applause. Inoue-san said he gauged the tension of HALCA's antenna cables from the sounds of the cable vibration during final adjustments before launch! The Meson Ensemble was formed in Kyoto and is named for the particle predicted by Prof. Yukawa of Kyoto University.

 
                Editors: Phil Edwards and Hirax Hirabayashi