[mmaimcal] (no subject)
Alwyn Wootten
awootten at nrao.edu
Sun May 14 11:29:00 EDT 2006
Folks
Comments, corrections or criticisms?
Thanks,
Al
BIWEEKLY CALENDAR OF THE ALMA PROJECT at NRAO
8 May 2006 - 22 May 2006
******************************** THIS FORTNIGHT****************************
Dear Colleagues,
We are delighted to announce that Chris Carilli has been appointed as
the Head of the ALMA Science Center (NAASC) effective May 1, 2006.
Chris will initially take up the role from Socorro before relocating to
Charlottesville later this year. Chris is no stranger to ALMA being a
member of both the ASAC and ANASAC. This is a very formative time for
the North American ALMA Science Center and we look forward to Chris'
involvement and leadership.
While Chris is moving from Socorro and his long affiliation with the VLA
and VLBA, his move illustrates the important principle of One
Observatory by rotating our staff to where he or she is needed the most.
In addition, the One Observatory goal is not for the NA ALMA Science
Center to function in isolation. There will be very close collaboration
and coordination and active exchanges of personnel and ideas with the
Science Centers NRAO is planning to establish for EVLA/VLBA and the GBT.
It is important to note that Science Centers do not refer to buildings.
They refer to the necessary activities provided and organized by NRAO to
the astronomy community to make sure all the NRAO telescopes are
optimally used for science.
Fred K. Y. Lo and Adrian Russell
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I am pleased to inform you that the National Science Board today approved
our request for additional funding for ALMA. This action provides the NSF
Director with spending authority that covers the revised baseline as
approved by the ALMA Board. It is the first step in acquiring the needed
funds, with discussions with the Administration and the Congress yet to
come.
This approval is a recognition of the transformational nature of the
science ALMA will enable and the importance of maintaining the power of
the instrument. The high quality of the people involved with the
project and the significant efforts by the project to bring cost and
schedule under control, as described in the ALMA Board review and the
North American review, were key factors in obtaining the approval, as
was the effort the ALMA Board has made to ensure its ability to act in a
timely way, while holding the project accountable to it.
We will keep you informed as the process of obtaining the funds continues.
Judy Sunley
Division of Physics, Math and Astronomy,
NSF
----------------------------------------------------------------------
About one hundred young astronomers and astrochemists met at Fulgso,
Denmark near the University of Aarhus for a meeting on Complex Molecules
in Space: Present status and prospects with ALMA, organised by David
Field. This was followed by a one day meeting of the EU 'Molecular
Universe' consortium.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The contract for construction of the Operations Support Facility (OSF)
was approved this week by the ESO Finance Committee.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
OSF (Ops Support Facility, 9600ft altitude): Approximately 106 people
are working on the ALMA site.
Santiago: Interviews for the position of Human Resource Manager continue.
Pedro Ramirez hired for JAO Assembly, Integration, Verification (AIV) team.
Santiago IT Manager hired: Christian Saldias, beginning in June.
AOS (Array Ops Site, 16000ft altitude): Bids in for Engineering design
firm for high-site roads.
AOC: The LO reference design is being changed to relay 125 MHz to the
antenna instead of 25 MHz. The Central Variable Reference procurement
will be reviewed on May 18 before procuring a prototype for evaluation.
ATF (ALMA Test Facility, VLA site): AEM metrology work ongoing at ATF.
NTC: Band 9 LO problems appear resolved. There was a highly successful
test of the X9 LO for Band 9 at SRON April 17-26; it appears all
performance criteria are met, and the FE IPT has concluded that this
solution is chosen; negotiations for pre-production quantities of the X9
multipliers are underway.
A production readiness review for the Stratix II Tunable Filter Bank (TFB)
card was held in Bordeaux April 10-11. We are ready to proceed with
production of this version of the TFB.
Construction of correlator quadrant #2 continued and the racks are
expected to be complete and ready for card installation by mid-June.
Elsewhere: The Band 7 (0.87 mm) cartridge CDR is planned to take between
6th and 14th July ’06.
FE Water Vapor Radiometer: Meetings were held with CA and OSO on the
close out of the current WVR R&D work package. This activity will be
completed, largely dependent on availability of staff at CA, by July ’06.
***************************************************************************
DAILY CALENDAR (Times EDT ) see
https://wikio.nrao.edu/bin/view/ALMA/AlmaCalendar
Mon 8 May Complex Molecules in Space: Present status and prospects with
ALMA 8th thru 11th May 2006, Fuglsocentret, Denmark
Tue 9 May Complex Molecules in Space: Present status and prospects with
ALMA 8th thru 11th May 2006, Fuglsocentret, Denmark
10:30 AM-11:30 AM: JAO IPT Telecon
Wed 10 May
Complex Molecules in Space: Present status and prospects with
ALMA 8th thru 11th May 2006, Fuglsocentret, Denmark
11:00 AM: SSR Telecon
Thu 11 May Full Moon; Big Saints Day (Holiday) Denmark
Molecular Universe meeting, Fuglsocentret, Denmark
11:00 am: Calibration Group Telecon
Fri 12 May
Sat 13 May
Sun 14 May
Mon 15 May Mon 15 May Registration Deadline, IAU XXVI General Assy
Events of ALMA interest compiled at:
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/mmaimcal/IAUALMA.txt
All Day: Operations meeting, Charlottesville
Tue 16 May
All Day: Operations meeting, Charlottesville
10:30 AM-11:30 AM: JAO IPT Telecon
Wed 17 May
10:30 AM EDT: Science IPT Telecon
Thu 18 May
NRAO Users Committee, Socorro
Fri 19 May
NRAO Users Committee, Socorro
Sat 20 May
Cassini encounter with Titan
Sun 21 May
Mon 22 May
****************************** UPCOMING EVENTS ****************************
May 25 1330UT ALMA Board Telecon
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 14 all day ALMA Master Laser CDR CV
Jun 19-20 all day AIVCSV Meeting Santiago
Aug 1 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*****************************
The official dedication of the Combined Array for Research in
Millimeter-Wave Astronomy (CARMA) facility was held Friday, 2006 May 5, at
Cedar Flat in the Inyo Mountains near Bishop. Please see:
http://pr.caltech.edu/media/Press_Releases/PR12844.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first panel was mounted on the innermost ring of the Large Millimeter
Telescope, now under erection at its site of Volcán Sierra Negra in Mexico
on 2006 May 3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) encourages observing
participation by astronomers from both U.S. and non-U.S. institutions.
Lodging, subsistence and transportation on the mountain are provided free
by the CSO, for two observers per program. A limited amount of travel
money may also be available.
Proposals for observing time should include the CSO cover form (please
use the latest version available at
http://www.submm.caltech.edu/cso/cso-call.html . The proposals will be
reviewed by an external peer group committee and should be sent by 31
May for the observing period 1 September through 31 January.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
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)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anne Dutrey informs us of a CNRS post-doctoral position at the Observatory
of Bordeaux. The position is opened for two years and will start on
September 2006 at the Observatory of Bordeaux. The application deadline is
June 2006.
The position is dedicated to the modelling of chemistry in proto-planetary
disks in order to interpret observational data obtained with the IRAM array.
Interested people can read the dedicated CNRS web page
http://www.k-projects.com/cnrs_postdocs/public/departement_details.php?IdDpt=9&Dep=SDU&NumOffre=2&Langue=en
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
***************************************************************************
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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