VSOP2 SAMURAI
 US VSOP-2 Home > SVLBI History
VSOP-2 in Japan:
  Mission
  Japanese Science Case
  Technology

SAMURAI--US in VSOP-2:
  Overview
  US Science Goals
  Implementation

Space VLBI:
  Technique
  Historical Background
  VSOP-1

Space VLBI History

A series of pioneering experiments involving NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) satellites ( Levy et al. 1986, Linfield et al. 1989, 1990) provided the initial proof of concept for Space VLBI. These initial tests were successfully followed up by the Japanese-launched HALCA satellite mission (VLBI Space Observing Programme; VSOP-1, 1997-2006; see Hirabayashi et al. 1998). VSOP-1 was an engineering mission from the Japanese MUSES (Mu-Series Engineering Satellite) program that solved a variety of complex issues involving ground telescope scheduling, data correlation, and Space VLBI imaging to create a fully functional observatory that was ultimately made available to the astronomical community. Following from the operational success of VSOP-1, a proposed US-led successor mission called ARISE (Ulvestad 1999--New Astronomy Reviews, 43, 531; Ulvestad 2000--Advances in Spae Research, 26, 735) was recommended by the year-2000 Astronomy and Astrophysics Survey committee. While costs precluded such a mission in the tight fiscal environment of the last decade, 7 of 9 ARISE science goals can be realized through the SAMURAI science investigation, while the other two can be realized through the non-SAMURAI parts of the VSOP-2 mission.



Last modified on Wednesday, 14-Jan-2009 10:21:32 MST

Hosted by NRAO on behalf of the US VSOP-2 Science Team.