Operation Center Response Form
             Joint CSTG/IERS Call for Participation
           International VLBI Service for Geodesy and
                           Astrometry


Operation Center name: NEOS Operation Center

Parent/Funding organization: NEOS, a joint effort of the U. S. Naval 
           Observatory and the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for VLBI.

Name and title of primary technical contact: T. Marshall Eubanks, Earth
Orientation Department, USNO

Name and title of administrative contact: T. Marshall Eubanks, Earth
Orientation Department, USNO

Mailing address:    USNO, 3450 Massachusetts Ave., Washington, D.C. 

Phone:    202-762-1566                  Fax: 202-762-1563

E-mail address: tme@cygx3.usno.navy.mil  
Web address:  http://maia.usno.navy.mil

Internet connection type or bit rate: T1
Data storage capacity: 29 Gb for NEOS operations 

List the networks/programs you support as an operation center: 

The weekly, 24-hour-duration, NEOS network observations.
Quasi-daily, short, single baseline Intensives for UT1.
Occasional (1-2 per year or less) NAVEX sessions for research
and technique development purposes.
Participate in CRF and other related astrometry sessions.

Number of full-time equivalent personnel assigned to operation center
functions: 1.0 

Describe any planned facility upgrades.  New computers as needed.

For each of the supported programs listed above, indicate which of the
following IVS Operation Center functions you provide and explain briefly how
you provide them: [see attached]
     Plan observing program
     Establish operating plans and procedures
     Support improved station performance
     Obtain correlator time
     Generate observing schedules
     Distribute observing schedules

Attach a list of personnel (names and titles) whom you designate as IVS
Associate Members through their affiliation with your operation center.
     T. Marshall Eubanks, Earth Orientation Department, USNO
     Cynthia Thomas, Operation Manager, NVI, Inc./GSFC
     Merri Sue Carter, Earth Orientation Department, USNO

Please provide any other information that you feel will be helpful in
demonstrating your operation center's capabilities to participate in the IVS.
If you proposed to the IERS in 1995/6 as a network operations center and wish
to have that proposal carry over to the IVS, please make such a statement in
this proposal. 

We wish to have the IERS proposal for the NEOS Operation Center carry
over to IVS.                                 

Your signature on this form indicates your agreement to participate in the IVS
as an Operation Center and to cooperate with and follow guidelines from the
IVS Coordinating Center. If this is a new proposal (i.e. not carried over from
IERS) your signature commits your organization to participate in the IVS.

Name of person signing:  Dennis D. McCarthy 
Title:  Director of Time, U.S. Naval Observatory



Signature: _________________________________________   Date: _________________


                    Explanations for Proposal
                              
Plan observing program
     The NEOS observing program is an ongoing operational program with the
goal of providing timely Earth orientation data. The program consists of
weekly observing sessions using a standard network of stations and daily
sessions optimized for measurement of UT1 using two stations.

Establish operating plans and procedures
     We have set up standard observing procedures for all geodetic sessions
and expect that stations will follow these plans.

Support improved station performance
     The NEOS data are correlated at the Washington correlator and analyzed at
USNO within a week of the observing session. This allows rapid feedback to the
stations so that they can work on improving their performance.

Obtain correlator time
     We support correlation of the NEOS sessions at the Washington
correlator.

Generate observing schedules
     We generate observing schedules for each NEOS session at the USNO. The
observing schedules use a standard set of geodetic sources plus a rotating set
of sources from a large catalog. 

Distribute observing schedules 
     We distribute observing schedules by placing them on CDDISA for stations
to download, and on ftp://casa.usno.navy.mil/navnet/sked as a backup.