ASAC meeting September 2006 - CIPT responses to Recommendations

7. The Committee strongly recommends that the CASA release schedule be
    constantly scrutinized to ensure it meets the requirements of ALMA
    for early community testing and Early Science observations with
    ALMA.

    CIPT Response:

We will take some critical CASA dates from internal NRAO/CIPT planning
and move them into the ALMA Integrated Product Schedule. We note that
there has been no significant slip in the overall CASA implementation
schedule, rather we have expanded the testing schedule in response to
concerns from the ASAC and others that NRAO and other "internal"
institutions perform sufficient CASA testing before releasing it to
the community. (For example, at CDR2 (July 2004) it was stated that
the CASA software would undergo its first framework tests in June
2006, which splits the dates of first testing (Feb 2006) and first
NRAO testing of the alpha release (Oct 2006)).


8. The ASAC recommends that external users be included in CASA beta
    testing in addition to NRAO users, with the goal of having the
    software available to a broad community before the start of Early
    Science.

    CIPT Response:

    Based on the ASAC recommendations from January 2006, CASA alpha
    testing was changed to be pre-dominantly NRAO scientists processing
    their own science data.  This phase will last until mid-2007.  CASA
    beta testing is scheduled to begin in mid-2007 after user
    interfaces have stabilized.  Beta testing will include both NRAO
    and external scientists.  The European ARC has been contacted to
    coordinate user input of the beta release.  NAOJ will coordinate
    users interested in evaluating ACA-related requirements.  In
    addition, we have several interested scientists and students who
    have volunteered to use CASA for scientific processing beginning in
    mid-2007.  The current plan is that external use of the package
    will ramp up between mid-2007 to late 2008, just before full
    release to the wider community.