- NASA Home
- | Centers
- | Marshall Home
- | Multimedia
- | Photogallery
- | Chandra
Search Marshall
| Chandra X-ray Observatory - Assembly & Testing | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
 |
chandrarollout1.jpg Technicians at TRW in Redondo Beach, Calif., prepare NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory for an official unveiling on Jan. 14, 1999. This marked the last opportunity to view the telescope before it is placed in a protective wrapping for shipping to NASA's Kennedy Space Center. It is set to be launched aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in April. The Chandra X-ray Observatory, the world's most powerful X-ray telescope, is being assembled by TRW for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![[]](/centers/marshall/images/content/100220main_spacer.gif "[]"){kind=spacer}
 |
chandrarollout2.jpg This fish-eye view of NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory lends an interesting perspective to the giant space telescope. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra program. The observatory, the world's most powerful X-ray telescope, will allow scientists to view previously invisible black holes and colliding masses of high-temperature gasses found in some parts of space.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
chandrarollout3.jpg NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is unveiled during a ceremony Jan. 14, 1999, at TRW Space and Electronic Group, Redondo Beach, Calif. TRW is NASA's prime contractor for the observatory -- the world's most powerful X-ray telescope
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
chandra_crew_t.jpg Led by Lt. Col. Eileen Collins (center, front), the first U.S. woman named to command a Space Shuttle mission, the members of NASA's STS-93 shuttle crew get their first look at the Chandra X-ray Observatory. With 10 times the resolution and 50-100 times the sensitivity of previous any previous X-ray telescope, Chandra will allow astronomers to view black holes and colliding galaxies invisible to conventional instruments. TRW is assembling the Chandra X-ray Observatory for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Photo: TRW
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
axaf1.jpg NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is prepared for insertion into TRW's thermal vacuum test chamber. The test chamber duplicates the extreme heat, cold and vacuum of space. Successful completion of these tests verifies that the X-ray observatory's subsystems can survive the environment in which they must operate. Photo: TRW
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
axaf2.jpg Workers at TRW guide the Chandra X-ray Observatory from the thermal vacuum test chamber at TRW's Redondo Beach, Calif., facility. After this test simulating the harsh space environment, the observatory will undergo continued electrical and communications testing until ready for delivery to Kennedy Space Center, Fla., for launch aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
mirrors.jpg Workers at Eastman Kodak in Rochester, N.Y., check the alignment of the Chandra observatory's High-Resolution Mirror Assembly. The four nested pairs of mirrors are stacked together like tumblers. X-rays entering the mirrors are reflected down the length of the observatory to the Science Instrument Module, where the data they provide is processed and transmitted to Earth. Eastman Kodak is assembling the Chandra X-ray Observatory's mirrors for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
chandra_milestone.jpg NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory program achieved a key milestone on July 21,1997 when the optical bench for the observatory's 30-foot X-ray telescope was mated with the observatory's high resolution mirror assembly, the optical heart of the satellite. Technicians from Eastman Kodak raised the optical bench to a vertical position at TRW's Space Park satellite integration facilities in Redondo Beach, Calif. TRW is assembling the Chandra X-ray Observatory for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Photo: TRW
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
chandra_ready.jpg Production and testing of the main structural element of NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, the world's most powerful X-ray telescope, was completed at TRW in Redondo Beach, Calif. The 1400-pound, 9-foot-by-12-foot structure is the largest all-graphite equipment compartment ever built by TRW. TRW is assembling the Chandra X-ray Observatory for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Photo: TRW
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
chandra_tested.jpg The Chandra observatory's high-resolution mirror assembly is placed in the test chamber of the X-ray Calibration Facility at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The X-ray Calibration Facility - inducted into the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame in 1998 - measured the sensitivity and accuracy of the observatory's mirrors. TRW is assembling the Chandra X-ray Observatory for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Photo: NASA
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
chandra_mated.jpg On October 28, 1997, engineers from TRW and Eastman Kodak connected the telescope and spacecraft of NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory together at TRW's satellite integration facility in Redondo Beach, Calif. The red spacecraft contains the observatory's electrical power, propulsion, attitude control, temperature control and data handling systems. TRW is assembling the Chandra X-ray Observatory for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Photo: TRW
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
spectrometer.jpg Scientists will learn much about the temperature and chemical composition of X-ray sources in space using the two transmission gratings installed in NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, the world's most powerful X-ray telescope. The two finely-ruled gratings will separate X-rays gathered by Chandra into their component energies, much like a prism splits visible light into a rainbow. Scientists can determine the chemical nature of X-ray sources by comparing the energies to those of substances here on Earth. TRW is assembling the Chandra X-ray Observatory for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Photo: TRW
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
chandra_component.jpg In February 1988, engineers from TRW and Ball Aerospace completed the last major phase of assembly on NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory with the connection of the Science Instrument Module. Shown here before hoisting into place on the observatory, the module includes a high-resolution camera and an imaging spectrometer. TRW is assembling the Chandra X-ray Observatory for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Photo: TRW
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
