_                   
                                                         |_|                  
      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  ***                        <)                    
                                                                              

SECOND AO RELEASED!

Today marks the first anniversary of the launch of HALCA. To celebrate, the second AO has been released!

The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) has released the Second Announcement of Opportunity (AO2) for scientific participation in the VLBI Space Observatory Programme (VSOP). Proposals are solicited for observations at 1.6 and 5.0 GHz with the dedicated space radio telescope, HALCA, and ground-based radio observatories to perform Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) on baselines of up to 2.6 Earth diameters.

AO2 solicits proposals for observations between 1 January 1999 and 31 December 1999, although some AO2 proposals may be scheduled as early as October 1998 if this enables better (u,v) coverage to be obtained.

General Observing Time is open to the astronomical community through proposals to be peer-reviewed by an international scientific review committee; proposals are due at ISAS by Friday, 8 May 1998.

Copies of the AO and proposal Cover Sheets, are available from the VSOP World Wide Web site at
/astro/halca/vsop/obs/AO.html
or via anonymous-ftp in the pub/docs/ao directory of
ftp.vsop.isas.ac.jp (133.74.2.131).
These documents will also be made available through a number of regional sites, which will be advertised on the VSOP WWW site.

A Proposer's Guide and simulation software packages supporting the Announcement of Opportunity will be available from 1 March 1998.

Please note that proposers wishing to continue, or complete, programs started during the first AO period must submit a proposal in response to this Announcement of Opportunity.

Regional e-mail Help Desks for assisting potential proposers through the VSOP AO process have been established. Questions related to the AO, proposal submission, technical aspects of the mission, or user software that are not addressed by the AO or Proposer's Guide can be submitted to these Help Desks; see the AO for your region's e-mail address. Responses normally will be within a few working days.

Apologies to those receiving this announcement more than once.

 
                Editors: Phil Edwards and Hirax Hirabayashi