Aug. 17, 2007

Dear Colleagues,

As reported previously in the FUSE newsletter, the last operational  reaction
wheel on FUSE stopped temporarily in early May 2007.  It was  restarted and
science operations resumed on June 12.  However, on  July 12 the wheel
stopped again.  This time the stoppage was very  abrupt indicating a
large braking force.  Attempts to restart any of  the wheels over the
last four weeks have been unsuccessful.  Although  the instrument remains
in excellent condition, the FUSE satellite is  currently incapable of
the fine pointing control required to continue  its science mission, and
there is no real prospect for recovering  this capability.

Regrettably, we have concluded that the scientific mission of the Far
Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer is no longer viable. The NASA
Science Mission Directorate has accepted our recommendation to
terminate the mission.  The FUSE Project has started closeout  activities
and will complete the final CalFUSE 3.2 reprocessing of  the entire
science mission data set in mid 2008.  The FUSE archive at  MAST
will be an ongoing legacy of the mission, and an important  resource
for years to come.  Future editions of the FUSE Newsletter  will
provide details of our plans for the FUSE mission archive at
MAST.  Also, watch the FUSE web page for updates.

The FUSE mission has been a fantastic success by any measure.  678  science
programs (GI, PI team, and discretionary time) have obtained
67 Msec of observing time, over 5100 observations of about 2800
unique targets. There are over 430 peer-reviewed papers based on
FUSE  data and the number continues to grow.  The story is not
quite over,  though.  Twenty five of the 68 programs selected for Cycle 8
obtained  data this Spring and Summer before the reaction wheel stopped
for the  last time.  These data have been archived recently and should
lead to  further exciting results in the near future.  Utilization of
the FUSE  archive will continue the flow of new results.

The Astrophysics Division intends to place special emphasis on FUSE
archival research in the 2008 Astrophysics Data Program that will be
part of the 2008 ROSES proposal solicitation.

The success of FUSE is a result of the combined efforts of the
scientists and engineers who built and operated it plus the scientists
who proposed, analyzed, and interpreted the observations.  FUSE's
legacy is a testament to the creativity, ingenuity, and hard work of al
l of you.  We acknowledge your efforts and enthusiasm with gratitude.


George Sonneborn                        Warren Moos
Project Scientist                       Principal Investigator
NASA/GSFC                               Johns Hopkins University


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 the 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.