Foreword

The first CD-ROM of data from the ROSAT mission was released at the AAS meeting held in Crystal City, Virginia and is available from the HEASARC. It contains images from the first six months of pointed observations and provides a complete overview of each observation. It can be used for source detection, or simply to get a quick overview of each observation. The CD-ROM and updates to the various ways the HEASARC data can be accessed are described in this issue of Legacy. The exponential growth in the use of the World Wide Web has caught our attention and we are making many services available through this medium, including the HEASARC data browser. A new tool, SkyView, is described and will provide remote access to all-sky survey data, including the HEAO-1 A2 X-ray survey. The HEASARC data restoration effort is proceeding and the status of the COS B, SAS 2, Vela 5B and Ariel V all-sky monitor data are reported. There has been a major effort to begin restoration of data tapes from the HEAO-1 A2 and OSO-8 missions, that were in the basement of building 2 at GSFC. The first stage of simply cataloging and moving the tapes to a more modern medium is described. A new FITS working group has been established to coordinate and give advice on how to structure FITS files and conventions for FITS keywords. These standards are essential if the restored data is to be made available in a multi-mission form.

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