_                   
                                                         |_|                  
      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  ***                        <)                    

OBSERVING RE-STARTED

VSOP observing restarted on March 8th with a survey observation and has continued with several General Observing Time observations since then. HALCA is constrained to point in the anti-solar region, which at the present time is ideal for observations of Key Science Program sources M87, 3C273 and 3C279. Minor operational glitches have been uncovered with the restart of observing, such as the first "PI letters" giving observation dates as being in 1999, but the observations themselves appear to have been trouble-free.

PUBLICATIONS

Thanks to the promptness of participants in submitting their papers, the VSOP symposium proceedings are already at the printers. If there are no problems with the proofs, the volume, "Astrophysical Phenomena Revealed by Space VLBI" should be ready for distribution in early April.

The VSOP group has recently received an addition to its growing multi-lingual library of publications about the VSOP project. Sandor Frey and Zsolt Paragi had an article published in Termszet Vilaga, a Hungarian natural science magazine (and one of Europe's oldest scientific magazines). The article, titled "The `Hottest' Quasars", won first prize in a contest for the most popular science article of 1999 -- our congratulations to the authors!

Today is the publication day in Japan for a book titled "Hoshi to Ikimonotachi no Uchuu" (The Universe of Stars and Living Creatures), a dialogue between Prof. Hirabayshi and ISAS colleague, Astro-biologist Prof. Kurotani. The book is presented (and was developed) as a series of e-mail conversations ranging from mapping the radio Universe to mapping the DNA of various creatures. The book features cartoons instantly recognizable to anyone who has seen Hirax give a talk, and a number indicating Kurotani-san is a similarly accomplished artist. There are, sadly, no plans at present for an English translation.

ST PATRICK'S DAY

St Patrick's Day, March 17th, would appear to a very appropriate day to have a party for someone named Murphy! In this case, it's a farewell party for Dave Murphy, who has been visiting ISAS for the last six months. Apart from continuing his own VSOP data reductions, Dave co-edited the VSOP proceedings, and has been contributing to development of the proposal for the successor to HALCA, the VSOP-2 mission. In keeping with the Irish theme, Dave will be presented with an "only-in-Japan" dish at the party -- a potato-topped pizza!

                Editors: Phil Edwards and Hirax Hirabayashi