The ASCA AO-4 NRA is released

["Charles Day, ASCA GOF, NASA GSFC" <DAY@lheavx.gsfc.nasa.gov>]

Dear ASCA Proposers:

The fourth ASCA NRA (AO-4) has just been released. It will follow this
schedule:

        15 June, 1995         NRA Release
   15 September, 1995         Stage-1 Proposals due
 early December, 1995         Stage-1 selections announced
   mid December, 1995         AO-4 observations begin
      1 January, 1996         Stage-2 proposals due
 early February, 1996         Stage-2 selections announced

As for AO-3, you can obtain a hardcopy of the NRA appendices by emailing
your postal address to:

   ascanra@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov

You can also obtain the appendices via anonymous FTP at

   legacy.gsfc.nasa.gov

in the directory

   asca/nra_info

and its subdirectories, or via WWW at:

   http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/asca/ascagof.html

The rest of this message is intended to provide a concise summary of the
important changes in the ASCA program and instrumentation since AO-3.
These changes are:

                 ASCA PROPOSALS ARE NOW IN TWO STAGES

To save time and resources, ASCA proposals are now in two stages, like
XTE. Stage-1 is for the science part of the proposal only. Stage-2,
which takes place after the merging of the US and Japanese programs, is
for the budget only. Details in Appendix C of the NRA.


               RPS HAS TWO NEW, EASIER-TO-USE INTERFACES

The Remote Proposal Submission software (RPS) has two interfaces which
make electronic submission easier: one using email, the other using
Mosaic and Netscape (but only for workstations). Details in Appendix D
of the NRA.


                     SIS 4-CCD MODE IS NOW UNUSABLE

Due to various manifestations of radiation damage, SIS 4-CCD mode is
effectively unusable. Observations which would have been done in 4-CCD
mode earlier in the mission can still be performed using 2-CCD mode with
longer exposures. Proposals specifying 4-CCD mode will not be accepted
on the US side unless the proposers can demonstrate an in-depth
knowledge of the instrument and the special need for 4-CCD mode.
Details in Appendix E of the NRA. 

Charles Day, ASCA GOF, NASA GSFC

Please send questions about ASCA A0-4 to ascanra@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov