Since finding first fringes last June, the excitement of the VSOP mission has subsided somewhat as everyone in the teams around the world concentrates on the full production mode. We are typically correlating about ten observations per month, each with different science goals, and each using different ground elements. It currently shows about 53 observations at some stage of completion.
Some observations involve as many as eight stations, a challenge for a six-station correlator.
All of this is handled by only two people working overlapping shifts, Brent Carlson and David del Rizzo. Many of the S2 observations are part of the VSOP Survey . Progress of the Survey and other observations will soon be enhanced by the availability of a telescope at Torun, Poland. This telescope will provide badly needed baselines to northern Europe from the U.S., Italy and South Africa. Two new capabilities have been added to the Penticton correlator.