_                    
                                                         |_|                   
      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  ***                        <)                     
 

SPACE VLBI WORK WEEK

Space VLBI Work Week was held in Ventura, California, from March 27 to 31. Participant's name cards actually gave the dates as Mach 27-31, a little bit more than the escape velocity from the earth! -- a good joke from JPL, which hosted the meeting. The week started with a review of the VSOP and RadioAstron missions before branching into a series of parallel sessions about various aspects of the missions and their support. The VSOP International Science Council met for several days to discuss issues related to the VSOP project, including the definition of the Key Science Project areas, the selection of the Scientific Review Committee, and the progress of the mission components. The VISC itself has been increased to 15 members, with the addition of Junji Inatani (National Astronomical Observatory) and Roy Booth (Onsala), the latter representing the Global VLBI Working Group. Peter Dewdney replaced Rus Taylor as the Canadian representative on the VISC.

DELAY? WHAT DELAY?

Members of the VSOP team were surprised to learn of an article in the March 20 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology claiming the launch date of the VSOP satellite, MUSES-B, may be delayed by six months to early 1997 as a result of the Kobe earthquake. The claim was however based on the personal opinion of someone in industry -- no official announcement of such a delay has been made by ISAS. A test firing of the third stage of the M-V rocket will take place as scheduled later this month at the ISAS test facility near Noshiro.

SPACE FLYER UNIT

An H-II rocket of National Space Development Agency (NASDA) successfully launched two satellites into orbit from NASDA's launch facility on Tanegashima island on Saturday 18th March. The first satellite will be used for meteorological monitoring. The second satellite is the joint ISAS/NASDA Space Flyer Unit (SFU). The SFU will remain in orbit for about 6 months before being retrieved by NASA's Space Shuttle later this year. The SFU carries a number of experiments, including an infra-red telescope which has successfully started strip scan observing.

SAKURA

April is cherry blossom season in Japan, and the cherry blossom (`sakura') are now in bloom. The National Astronomical Observatory campus in Mitaka and ISAS both have a large number of cherry trees and are especially beautiful at this time of year. O-hana-mi is the very pleasant Japanese custom of viewing the blossoms... usually enjoying some liquid refreshments at the same time.

 
 
       Editors: Phil Edwards and Hirax Hirabayashi