************************************************************************* 53025 X-ray observations of the highest redshift objects yield important information on the early formation of deep potential wells and massive black holes. Spectral features can also give information on early metal enrichment. We propose to observe the most distant detectable object, a recently discovered radio-loud quasar at a redshift of 4.73. A serendipitous (and off-axis) ROSAT observation of this quasar indicates that it will be well detected over the entire 0.5-10 keV energy band of ASCA, corresponding to the 3-60 keV band in the rest frame of the quasar. *************************************************************************