[XTEnews]: Status of Continued Operations of RXTE

["News for users of the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer \(RXTE\)." <xtenews@lists.nasa.gov>]

Dear Friends of RXTE,

We would like to personally thank all of those who spent some, or in many cases significant, effort in the last few days to try and find some solution to facilitate a continuation of RXTE operations.  Over the last few days we have explored in detail with NASA whether there was any viable solution but in the end we were unable to find one given the current circumstances.  I'm satisfied we did the best we could, but we have exhausted all avenues (and become exhausted in the process) and so the mission will close out in early January.  It is likely that the last science observations will take place during the first week of January, 2012. By any and all measures the mission was a phenomenal success, and we should focus on those achievements.   Thanks again for all your support through the years in making RXTE such a success.

Tod Strohmayer (Project Scientist)
John Tomsick (Chair, RXTE User's Group)