From: hanisch@stsci.edu (Bob Hanisch, ST ScI)
Subject: WGAS FITS Committee
Reply-To: hanisch@stsci.edu
Organization: Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore MD
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 15:37:31 GMT

To all members of the FITS community:
 
  As chair of the AAS Working Group on Astronomical Software I have appointed a
standing committee under the WGAS that will be the formal voting authority on
issues related to the FITS standard.  As many WGAS members know, in the past
our votes on FITS issues have been rather informal, including those WGAS
members who were able to attend our meetings during the summer AAS meeting.
The WGAS FITS Committee is analogous to the European and Japanese FITS
Committees, both of which have a formal voting membership.
 
  It is my intention to include all interested parties in the discussion of
FITS issues via the FITS newsgroup, WGAS meetings, ad hoc committees on
specific issues (e.g., the world coordinate systems that are now being
discussed), BoF sessions at the ADASS conferences, etc.  However, in order to
assure that all major data producing and data archiving institutions are
represented when issues come to a vote, the WFC has been constituted.  I have
tried to make sure that everyone is properly represented, but I would
appreciate it if people would bring to my attention any major omissions or
oversights.
 
  I have appointed Don Wells of NRAO as chair of this committee, and he will
organize the voting for the FITS proposals that are now before us (binary
tables extension, image extension, and agreement on FITS on media other than
9-track magnetic tape).
 
  Voting will be carried out by e-mail.  Approval of any issue will require at
least 13 positive votes.  In practice we will strive to work out any
substantive disagreements so that votes can be unanimous.
 
  The WGAS FITS Committee membership is attached below.
 
Bob Hanisch
Chair, AAS Working Group on Astronomical Software
hanisch@stsci.edu

                   WGAS FITS Committee, November 1992
 
Don Wells, NRAO (Chair)                 dwells@nrao.edu
Lee Brotzman, NSSDC                     brotzman@ndadsa.gsfc.nasa.gov
Dennis Crabtree, DAO/CADC               crabtree@dao.nrc.ca
Eric Greisen, NRAO                      egreisen@nrao.edu
Bob Hanisch, ST ScI (ex officio)        hanisch@stsci.edu
Arne Henden, OSU                        henden@mps.ohio-state.edu
William Lupton, Keck Obs.               wlupton@keck.hawaii.edu
Eric Mandel, SAO                        eric@cfa.harvard.edu
Bob Narron, IPAC                        bob@ipac.caltech.edu
Bill Pence, HEASARC                     pence@tetra.gsfc.nasa.gov
Jeff Percival, U.Wis.                   jwp@sal.wisc.edu
Skip Schaller, U.Ariz.                  skip@as.arizona.edu
Barry Schlesinger, NASA FITS Office     bschlesinger@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov
Peter Teuben, U. Md.                    teuben@astro.umd.edu
Doug Tody, NOAO                         tody@noao.edu
Michael Van Steenberg                   mev@ndadsa.gsfc.nasa.gov
Archie Warnock, NSSDC                   warnock@hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov
Winifred Williams, NSO                  wwilliams@noao.edu
 
Preben Grosbol, ESO, IAU (non-voting)   pgrosbol@eso.org


---
Robert J. Hanisch                       Tel. (410)338-4910   Fax. (410)338-5090
Space Telescope Science Institute       NSI: hanisch@stsci.edu [130.167.1.2]
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Baltimore, MD  21218  USA               Bitnet: hanisch@stsci

Newsgroups: sci.astro.fits