[mmaimcal] FYI:5 June 2006 BIWEEKLY CALENDAR OF THE ALMA PROJECT at NRAO

Al Wootten awootten at nrao.edu
Fri Jun 2 16:49:38 EDT 2006


Folks,

Please send any corrections, comments, claims or criticisms.

Al

                    BIWEEKLY CALENDAR OF THE ALMA PROJECT at NRAO
                          5 June 2006 - 19 June 2006

******************************** THIS FORTNIGHT****************************
During the past month, ALMA has been preparing for its operations phase.
Chris Carilli has been appointed Head of the North American ALMA Science
Center, Paola Andreani has been appointed ARC Manager for ESO and John
Hibbard continues as acting ARC Manager for NRAO.  Also within the month,
Ryohei Kawabe has been appointed acting ARC Manager for NAOJ.  Advertisements
for Head of Science Operations, Head of Technical Services and Head of
Administration for the Joint ALMA Observatory have been placed.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Eduardo Hardy informs us:
On 1 June the Completion Package contract with ConPax was
signed in Santiago. This is the largest individual contract so far
concluded in Chile by NRAO for ALMA and will lead to the completion of
the AOS Technical Building.  The local merit for the succesful
negotiation of this complex package, which also included a large amount
of equipment purchasing, belongs to the team of Mauricio Pilleux,
Eduardo Donoso, Claudio Navarro and Martin Mudnich, supported by the
local Fiscal division of NRAO. 

By the end of next March we should be able to see the completed AOS TB
sitting at 5000m (16570 ft) on the Chajnantor plateau, arguably the highest
building in Chile and probably among the highest anywhere.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
There will be a special session (#28) of the American Astronomical Society
meeting in Calgary on 'Imaging Star Formation in the Cosmos with ALMA'.  
Presentations will be made on 'ALMA and Distant Galaxies by Andrew Blain, 
Star Formation in Our Galaxy: The Need for ALMA by Douglas Johnstone and 
Imaging Star-Forming Gas in Nearby Galaxies by Jean Turner.  Additionally, 
there will be a special poster session (#51) 'Imaging Star Formation in the 
Cosmos with ALMA II' with nine posters and one in session #56 on the 
3mm cartridge.  Posters will travel to the JAO in Santiago the following 
week.

Invited session 30.01 will feature Christine Wilson speakin on
'Luminous Infrared Galaxies with the Submillimeter Array: Probing the
Extremes of Star Formation' Monday 5 Junr, 4:10 pm.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The deadline for registration for the meeting 'Science with ALMA: a new 
era for Astrophysics' to be held 13 - 16 November 2006 in Madrid, Spain
is 2006 July 1.  184 persons have registered; the meeting limit is 250.
Please register to be ensured of participation.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Past issues of this Calendar may be viewed at
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/mmaimcal/ALMACalendars.html
See also the JAO ALMA Calendar overview at:
http://www.alma.cl/alma_project
***************************************************************************
General Happenings
Sky:  The Evening sky hosts Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

OSF (Ops Support Facility, 9600ft altitude): Approximately 91 people
are working on the ALMA site.  The Power Station feasibility report
was submitted and evaluated, resulting in a decision to connect to the
Chilean grid rather than to construct and operate a stand-alone facility.
Vertex Site Erection Facility (SEF) pads will be complete end of 2006 July.
ALMA has selected 'Sahara Tan' as building color.

AOS (Array Ops Site, 16570ft altitude): From 26-30 May, the APEX 
tau measurements showed less than 1mm PWV.

AOC: Upgraded second laser synthesizer and line length corrector units
arrived.  Several issues resulting from a meeting on timing of signals
continue to be discussed.  Move of hardware from the Socorro lab to the
ATF is scheduled to begin 2006-Aug-28.

ATF (ALMA Test Facility, VLA site): VxRSI antenna metrology tests were
carried out.  Bidders conference for nutator to be held 2006 May 31.
Cloudsat avoidance software to be installed 2006 May 30.

***************************************************************************
DAILY CALENDAR (Times EDT ) see
https://wikio.nrao.edu/bin/view/ALMA/AlmaCalendar
 Mon  5 Jun
Special Session (#28)  'Imaging Star Formation in the Cosmos with ALMA'
                 American Astronomical Society meeting in Calgary
 Tue  6 Jun
                 American Astronomical Society meeting in Calgary
10:30 AM-11:30 AM: JAO IPT Telecon
 Wed  7 Jun
Special Session (#51) Imaging Star Formation in the Cosmos with ALMA II'
                 American Astronomical Society meeting in Calgary
11:00 AM: ASAC telecon
5:30 PM-7:30 PM: Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF) 
              12th Annual Exhibition & Reception.  AAS booth features ALMA 
                 Rooms B338-340 of the Rayburn House Office Building 
 Thu  8 Jun
                 American Astronomical Society meeting in Calgary
 Fri  9 Jun
 Sat  10 Jun
 Sun  11 Jun  Full Moon
 Mon  12 Jun  
ALMA Board Meetings, Santiago
 Tue  13 Jun
ALMA Board Meetings, Santiago
10:30 AM-11:30 AM: JAO IPT Telecon
 Wed  14 Jun
ALMA Board Meetings, Santiago
 Thu  15 Jun 
ALMA Board Meetings, San Pedro de Atacama and ALMA site
 Fri  16 Jun 
 Sat  17 Jun 
 Sun  18 Jun 
 Mon  19 Jun 
AIVCSV Meeting, Santiago
****************************** UPCOMING EVENTS ****************************
 June 2-8        all day         CASCA/AAS meeting      Calgary, CA
  June 7          1730            ALMA Booth             Capitol Hill, DC
 June 13-14    	 all day 	 ALMA Board Meeting 	Santiago
 June 13         all day         ALMA Master Laser SpcR CV
 Jun 19-20       all day         AIVCSV Meeting         Santiago
 Jun 30          1800 UT         ANASAC Meeting         Telecon
 Aug 28                           Move of PSI to ATF
 Sept 22-23      evening         Dave Matthews Band     CV JPJ Arena opening
 November 9-10 	 all day 	 ALMA Board Meeting 	Madrid 	TBD
 Nov 13-16    all day Science with ALMA: a new era for Astrophysics Madrid
******************************* TECHNICAL NEWS ****************************

******************************ALSO OF INTEREST*****************************
ALMA has openings for Head of Science Operations, Head of Technical
Services, and Head of Administration.  Please see:
http://www.nrao.edu/administration/personnel_office/careers.shtml
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                2nd pan-ALMA Conference : 2nd Announcement

Dear Colleague,

The 2nd pan-ALMA conference on "Science with ALMA: a new era for
Astrophysics" will be held 13-16 November 2006 in Madrid, Spain. The
venue will be the campus of the CSIC (Consejo Superior de
Investigaciones Cientificas), in the centre of town.

Information on the 2nd pan-ALMA meeting is available via

       http://www.oan.es/alma2006/   (final slash is mandatory)
***************************************************************************
Please send information for upcoming calendars by Friday evening of the
preceding biweekly period to Jennifer Neighbours or Al Wootten via e-mail
(jneighbo at nrao.edu or awootten at nrao.edu).

The calendar will be issued between late Friday and sometime on Monday by
e-mail to all NRAO scientific staff members and anyone else interested.
A specific mailing list, alma-info, has been created for anyone wishing
to receive it.
Past issues are available at
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/mmaimcal/ALMACalendars.html



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