ANASAC Telecon
14 May 2010
Present - Baker, Blain, Bollato, Emerson, Hibbard, Hsien, Johnstone, Lonsdale, Looney, Padgett, Weinberger, Wilner, Wilson, Wootten
Apologies, Blain dropping in and out, skypeing from an unreliable wireless connection.
Al Wootten described construction progress, including the first appearance of four 12-m antennas at the AOS. The first on-planned-schedule (one month)
completion of a cryostat containing 6 cassettes was achieved by the frontend integration center in Charlottesville.
The NSF review of the
NAASC proposal is going to take place in Chile in mid-July,
with presentation materials due by 2nd July.
ACTION: ALL: ANASAC members are encouraged to range around the ALMA website and to suggest possible improvements. Initial suggestions are that a timeline for the project was difficult to find.
Appointments to the
NAASC are progressing, with 3 offers out for staff scientist
positions and 3 postdocs appointed.
ASAC representatives suggested that the ASAC may ask for help with discovering issues prior to the deadline for deciding about the call for early science. It is hoped that ANASAC members will be proactive in seeking out issues and lending a hand.
In particular, a list of LIAISON members of ASAC/other committees might be drawn up, and it is hoped that ANASAC members would be willing to help with this.
There is the possibility that NA may have specific issues for early science that are distinct from the project-wide situation.
ACTION: ALL: VOLUNTEER.
John Hibbard described plans for integrated software testing in time for the operational readiness review (ORR) 13-14 Oct. the deadline for submission of materials to the reviewers is 22nd Sept.
The ORR impacts the choice of date for the f2f meeting of ANASAC. Members are encouraged to consider forthcoming teaching schedules and plan for a 2-day meeting.
ACTION: AL: POST WIKI MEETING DETAILS. ACTION:ALL: FILL IN DATES.
ACTION: CAROL: CONSIDER HOW ANASAC CAN BEST HELP THIS PROCESS
Some turnover of committee members is expected.
ACTION: AL/DOUG/ALL: CONSIDER POTENTIAL NUMBER AND NAMES OF NEW MEMBERS.
JAO would like names of 25 potential PRC members for the early science call assessment by May 30. First impressions were that this number is modest. Note that prior ASAC members number 37, and are probably a good base on which to build a list, but wider experience may be desirable too. The committee notes that the announcement of panels prior to the deadline is not standard. The current suggested timescale for reading up to 100 proposals is considered to be very aggressive.
ACTION: ALL: CONSIDER NAMES
ACTION: JOHN/CAROL: FEEDBACK CONCERNS ON WORKLOAD AND TIMESCALES.
Visitors to the CSV process are welcomed by JAO for periods exceeding three months. The desire for people to contribute in this way to the project is very strong.
ACTION: ALL: VOLUNTEER AND ENCOURAGE COLLEAGUES TO DO SO.
A suggestion has been made by the NRAO visitors committee, of a shared-risk mode of Early Science in which up to 20FTE (based on eVLA experience) would be contributed by visitors who would spend extended periods at the JAO/OSF in exchange for science data. The ANASAC discussed this idea extensively, and felt that it is not realistic to implement such a change to the plan for Early Science at this late stage.
Testing of archive effort at Charlottesville has begun, with two technical staff appointed and a replication test planned with Santiago in late August. Progress with the
NAASC archive appears to be on track. Note that progress with the archive
is of direct interest to ANASAC, as it affects
NAASC support ALMA ES for NA-based PIs.
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Date of next meeting: Friday 18th June 1500 Eastern, 2000UT. Proposed
an hour later to better fit within Jonathan William's schedule in Hawaii, and to increase frequency to one meeting per month.
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AlWootten - 2010-06-17