Teleconference, 6 February 2002
Draft Minutes
Participants: R. Bachiller, G. Blake, R. Brown, P. Cox, R. Crutcher, N. Evans, S. Guilloteau, M. Gurwell, T. Hasegawa, R. Lucas, J. Mangum, L. Mundy, M. Rafal, J. Richer, P. Schilke, P. Shaver, M. Walmsley, D. Wilner, C. Wilson, A. Wootten, S. Yamamoto, M. Yun
A. Wootten announced that N. Scoville and W. Welch have rotated off the ASAC, and thanked them for their participation over the previous years. They are being replaced by L. Mundy and D. Wilner.
The proposed agenda was adopted, and the minutes of the previous meeting were accepted.
1) Project Status Report
M. Rafal reported that the President's budget request for 2003 has been released, and includes $30 million funding for continued construction of ALMA in FY 2003. He mentioned that the Vertex prototype antenna is proceeding well, although there may be some delays related to panels and steel fabrication. R. Brown reported that the AEC is assembling the updated scope and cost. This material will go the ACC this month, for a response to the AEC in March and final approval by the ACC in April. This material will also be shown to the NSB for its approval. He commented that the project is in very good shape - the scope and cost are the same as in April 2000. He reported that much progress was made last month in Chile towards securing official site access, although there is still a long way to go. The process must be completed this year, well in time for the start of real construction on the site in January 2003.
(2) Agenda for face-to-face meeting
P. Cox introduced the draft agenda of the face-to-face meeting. A major item will be the RSCs, which are being discussed at the end of the first day so consideration can be given in the evening and discussion can continue into the second day. There was discussion over the appropriate length and nature of the RSC presentations. J. Richer suggested that there be an overview of the RSC issue by the Project, but R. Brown said that the AEC is also discussing this issue, and needs independent input from the ASAC. While it was agreed that all three presentations should be made, it was also agreed that there should be a common discussion. P. Cox said that a report on the recent Paris meeting on the European RSC will be available by mid-February.
E. van Dishoeck had provided some written comments, and
suggested more discussion on prototype receivers and the issue of the TAC(s).
N. Evans noted that T. Cornwall will talk on data management planning.
S. Guilloteau suggested that this should be coordinated with ESO, and that
perhaps P. Quinn should be invited to participate. C. Wilson suggested
that there should be copies of the presentation reports available before
the meeting, especially the baseline receiver production report. G. Blake
will make a request for proposed lists of such reports within the next
few days. There will be a deadline for these written reports, probably
two weeks before the actual meeting. P. Cox requested that other ASAC members
send their written comments on the draft agenda to Blake/Cox/Fukui.
(3) Next ASAC face-to-face meeting
T. Hasegawa outlined plans for events surrounding the meeting, and welcomed comments. There will be a meeting with the press on the first day. It will not be very formal, just an exchange of views. He hopes that some ASAC members from N. America and Europe will be able to attend. A buffet dinner will follow, to which the press will also be invited.
The Science Day will take place on Thursday 21st, which is a holiday in Japan. It will be in the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, in a hall with 300 seats. The programme will be as shown in the e-mail which contained the draft agenda of the face-to-face meeting. The three speakers will be Y. Fukui, G. Blake, and P. Cox, with translations to Japanese. The following discussion session will have a panel with the three speakers and 3-4 others. N. Evans suggested the preparation of summary sheets to assist in giving consistent answers to the press. T. Hasegawa reminded ASAC members to respond concerning their participation and travel and accommodation plans.
(4) Configuration Plans
Several telecons readied new material for the Configuration Design Review.
Butler summarized all new material into a document
included with the agenda,
which he also prepared as the local organizer of the Review. This material
will migrate onto the ALMA WWW pages shortly.
At the Review, the report of the Preliminary Review held February 2001
was confronted with work presented by Kogan, Conway,
Webster, Boone and others. Although the design of configurations for
radio telescope arrays is a mature field, a number of new ideas were introduced
during the course of ALMA design: the elegant design theory developed by
Boone, the sidelobe optimization techniques presented by Kogan, the Delaunay
uv optimization introduced by Webster, and the hybrid uv then beam optimization
employed by Conway. The committee thought the zoom spiral design
presented by Conway, mated to a compact design developed by Kogan, held
best to the PDR requirements and recommended several improvements for these
designs. It further recommended that someone lead the effort to finish
the design effort. This begins with the compact design, with a report due
during ALMA Week, and then the more extended arrays, including consultation
with road engineers, with a report due at the occasion of the Site Development
Review in the early Fall. The report
of the Configuration Design Review wiill be transmitted it to Review Committee
members for review then on to the Project for action.
We want to thank everyone who has participated in the ALMA Configuration
Design Review, particularly the committee members. In the first of its
action items, the committee recommended:
The project should appoint a leader of the configuration design process
as quickly as possible. The leader will guide the design process,
including iteration of the design with the antenna/transport groups and
the site development group. The project will invest in this leader
the resources necessary to be able to push the process ahead as a top priority
without distraction from other commitments. Steps are being taken
to name this leader.
(5) Next teleconference
The next ASAC teleconference will take place on Wednesday
6 March at 14:30 UT.