Content:

1) Expanded Sky Coverage for FUSE Observations
2) MDRS new Default Aperture for Bright Target (HIST) Observations
3) "Call for Proposals" for Cycle 6 to be Released June 30
4) CalFUSE v3.0 Coming Soon
5) Final Program for Victoria Meeting Posted 
6) FUSE Celebrates Five Years in Orbit



1) Expanded Sky Coverage for FUSE Observations

        A significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to improve the sky 
availability of the FUSE instrument was reached in April 2004.  Taking 
advantage of new operational procedures and scheduling software, we have 
improved the target visibility in of all parts of the sky and, in particular, 
eliminated the zone of near-zero visibility at low declinations centered at 
about 12 hours of right ascension.  These improvements are due to the routine 
use of roll offset observations and the ability to reliably predict and utilize
orbits for which attitude control is marginal for short intervals during target 
occultation.   These new operational procedures have been successfully used 
since April -04. An updated version of the target visibility tool will be 
available for Cycle 6 proposal preparation.  The area of the sky available for 
Survey targets will also be expanded for Cycle 6.
        

2) MDRS New Default Aperture for Bright Target (HIST) Observations

        Effective this month, MDRS is the default aperture for bright target 
(histogram mode) observations.  High count-rate observations in the LWRS 
aperture since the start of the mission have measurably degraded the detector 
performance in certain LWRS wavelength regions. This policy was adopted in 
order to minimize further charge depletion in those regions of the detectors, 
preserving the sensitivity of the LWRS for faint targets.  Targets too faint 
for FUV PEAK-UPs require the LWRS aperture.   FUSE observing programs from 
previous proposal cycles with pending histogram observations will be granted 
additional exposure time to compensate for the lower effective throughout of 
the MDRS aperture. The PIs of these programs will be contacted and given the 
opportunity to comment on the impact of this new policy on their programs.  
Some observations will remain assigned to the LWRS when justified by the 
scientific objectives (e.g. high-precision spectrophotometry).

Requests to observe bright targets in the LWRS aperture in Cycle 6 (and future) 
proposals must be strongly justified (for instance, stringent 
spectrophotometric requirements).


3) "Call for Proposals" for Cycle 6 to be Released by June 30

        The addendum to the ROSS NRA for the FUSE Cycle 6 GI proposals will be
released on or before June 30, 2004, on the FUSE GI web site.  Notices of 
Intent to propose will be due on August 6 and proposals will be due on 
September 17, 2004.  Cycle 6 begins on April 1, 2005.  As in Cycle 5, there 
will be three proposal categories: Legacy, Standard, and Survey.

        For details, please see the FUSE GI web site at:  
        http://fusegi.pha.jhu.edu


4) CalFUSE v3.0 Coming Soon


        The newest version of the FUSE calibration pipeline, CalFUSE v3.0.7, 
will be released to the general community on or about 15 July 2004. (The 
software is ready; we're finalizing a set of flux- and wavelength-calibration 
files.)  At the same time, we will begin delivering data processed with 
CalFUSE v3.0 to the MAST archive.  MAST will be able to supply both extracted 
spectra and IDF, or intermediate data files.  The IDF files provide FUSE data 
in the form of a calibrated photon-event list, allowing users to examine, 
filter, and combine data from multiple exposures without re-running the 
pipeline.
        


5) Final Program for Victoria Meeting Posted

        
        The scientific program for the upcoming conference: "Astrophysics in 
the Far Ultraviolet - Five Years of Discovery with FUSE," has been posted on
the conference web site (http://www.uvcs.uvic.ca/conf/FUSE/).  Preparations are 
proceeding apace and promises to provide an exciting meeting.  We look forward
to seeing you in Victoria in early August!


6) FUSE Celebrates Five Years in Orbit


        On June 24, 2004, FUSE passed the milestone of 5 years of on-orbit 
operations.  To commemorate this event, several web pages have been posted under
the "Headlines" section of the FUSE web page, including a launch day 
retrospective page and 5-year statistics for the mission. For details, please 
see the FUSE home page.

        http://fuse.pha.jhu.edu

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The Observer's Electronic Newsletter is published by the FUSE project and is 
aimed at the FUSE user community.

Editor: B-G Andersson, FUSE Guest Investigator Officer.

The FUSE Project is managed by Johns Hopkins University's Center for 
Astrophysical Sciences in Baltimore, MD, for NASA's Goddard Space Flight 
Center.  The FUSE Principal Investigator is Dr. Warren Moos, the FUSE Program 
Manager at JHU is Mr. Randy Ewing, and the NASA Project Scientist for FUSE 
is Dr. George Sonneborn.

Further information about the FUSE Guest Investigator Program can  be
obtained from:  Dr. George Sonneborn; george.sonneborn-1@nasa.gov
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