_                   
                                                         |_|                  
      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  ***                        <)                    

VSOP INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM

The dates for the VSOP symposium next year are Wednesday 19th to Friday 21st January. The first Announcement for the symposium, which will be held at ISAS, will be released early next week, and made available from the symposium web page -- /astro/halca/vsop/symposium.html.en. Expressions of interest and provisional titles for presentations need to be submitted on the form provided on the first Announcement by Friday July 30.

VSOP AO3

Several enquiries have been received about the third Announcement of Opportunity for VSOP observations. The AO2 period nominally ran from January to December 1999 inclusive (with AO2 proposals being included in the long term schedule from October 1998), however the loss of observing time caused by the HALCA shutdowns at the end of last year has meant a significant number of observations had to be postponed. Although subject to VISC approval, it is likely that the AO2 period will be extended to mid-2000 so that the backlog of AO1 and AO2 observations can be completed. However, the outstanding observations are insufficient to keep HALCA fully occupied, and so a call for new proposals will be made -- assuming HALCA continues in good health -- in the next few months. Details for AO3 proposing will be announced in the VSOP news as soon as they are settled.

VSOP WWW SITE

The VSOP website has undergone a few additions and revisions lately, most notably with the replacement of the old (and out-of-date) Experiment Status page with a new improved Observation Status page. The new page is still missing details for some observations, but these will be added in the near future. Several PIs responded to last issue's request for images, and the VSOP Image Gallery has been updated as a result.

MEETINGS at ISAS

A series of meetings will be held at ISAS from July 8th to 13th, starting with a meeting to discuss the various scenarios for a follow-up mission to HALCA, dubbed VSOP-2, assuming a launch in the latter half of the next decade. This will be followed by a meeting of the VSOP Survey Working Group Data Reduction Team, who will discuss progress with the analysis of Survey data to date, the efforts underway to ensure a uniform approach to data reduction at the various participating institutions, and preparations to make the results of the survey available to the wider community.

                Editors: Phil Edwards and Hirax Hirabayashi