July 23, 1999 National Aeronautics and “There is Space Administration nothing as THE beautiful as CHANDRA Chandra sailing off on its way X-RAY OBSERVATORY LAUNCH + to work.” DEPLOYMENT Cady Coleman who deployed Chandra.

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra STS-93 CREW NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory Jeffrey Ashby, Catherine Coleman, program for NASA’s Science Mission is a telescope specially designed Because X-rays are absorbed Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Michel Tognini, Steven Hawley, by Earth’s atmosphere, Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, to detect X-ray emission from very , controls Chandra’s science and hot regions of the such as Chandra must orbit above it, flight operations. exploded stars, clusters of galaxies, up to an altitude of 139,000

and matter around black holes. km (86,500 mi) in space.

.gov chandra.si.edu

RESULTS

optical bench. bench. optical dark energy studies. studies. energy dark

the end of the 9.2- m (30-ft.) (30-ft.) m 9.2- the of end the showing the dispersal of elements. elements. of dispersal the showing contributing to both dark matter and and matter dark both to contributing

onto electronic detectors at at detectors electronic onto remains of exploded stars, and taken spectra spectra taken and stars, exploded of remains collision of galaxies in a cluster and is is and cluster a in galaxies of collision

hollow shells and are focused focused are and shells hollow Chandra has imaged the spectacular, glowing glowing spectacular, the imaged has Chandra dark matter from normal matter in the the in matter normal from matter dark

X-rays strike the insides of the the of insides the strike X-rays Chandra has traced the separation of of separation the traced has Chandra

FIRST LIGHT FIRST each other. The energetic energetic The other. each

sensitive mirrors nested inside inside nested mirrors sensitive

RESULTS

Chandra carries four very very four carries Chandra

across the Universe. Universe. the across

Way, and found black holes holes black found and Way,

in the center of our Milky Milky our of center the in

supermassive black hole hole black supermassive

the region around the the around region the Chandra has observed observed has Chandra