[NASA Facts] Back to Fact Sheets Index Chandra X-ray Observatory Quick Facts NASA's newest space telescope, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, will allow scientists from around the world to obtain unprecedented X-ray images and spectra of violent, high-temperature events and objects to help us better understand the structure and evolution of our universe. It will also serve as a unique tool to study detailed physics in a unique laboratory -- the universe itself - one that cannot be replicated here on Earth. Managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., Chandra is a sophisticated, state-of-the-art instrument that represents a tremendous technological advance in X-ray astronomy. Did you know? * The Chandra X-ray Observatory is the world's most powerful X-ray telescope. It has eight-times greater resolution and will be able to detect sources more than 20-times fainter than any previous X-ray telescope. * The Chandra X-ray Observatory, with its Inertial Upper Stage and support equipment, is the largest and heaviest payload ever launched by the Space Shuttle. * The Chandra X-ray Observatory's operating orbit takes it 200-times higher than the Hubble Space Telescope. During each orbit of the Earth, Chandra travels one-third of the way to the Moon. * The Chandra X-ray Observatory's resolving power is - 0.5 arc-seconds -- equal to the ability to read the letters of a stop sign at a distance of 12 miles. Put another way, Chandra's resolving power is equivalent to the ability to read a 1-centimeter newspaper headline at the distance of a half-mile. * If the State of Colorado were as smooth as the surface of the Chandra X-ray Observatory mirrors, Pike's Peak would be less than an inch tall. * Another of NASA's incredible time machines, the Chandra X-ray Observatory will be able to study some quasars as they were 10 billion years ago. * The Chandra X-ray Observatory will observe X-rays from clouds of gas so vast that it takes light more than five-million years to go from one side to the other. * Although nothing can escape the incredible gravity of a black hole, not even light, the Chandra X-ray Observatory will be able to study particles up to the last millisecond before they are sucked inside. * It took almost four centuries to advance from Galileo's first telescope to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope - an increase in observing power of about a half-billion times. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is about one-billion times more powerful than the first X-ray telescope, and we have made that leap in slightly more than three decades. Chandra Mission at a Glance: Chandra X-ray Observatory Mission Duration Chandra science mission Approx. 5 yrs Orbital Activation & Checkout Approx. 2 mos period Orbital Data Inclination 28.5 degrees Altitude at apogee 86,487 sm Altitude at perigee 5,999 sm Orbital period 64 hrs Observing time per orbital Up to 55 hrs period Dimensions Length - (Sun shade open) 45.3' Length - (Sun shade closed 38.7' Width - (Solar arrays 64.0' deployed) Width - (Solar arrays stowed) 14.0' Weights Dry 10,560 lbs Propellant 2,153 lbs Pressurant 10 lbs Total at launch 12,930 lbs Integral Propulsion System Liquid Apogee Engines 4 engines (Only 2 used at a time) Fuel Hydrazine Oxidizer Nitrogen tetroxide Thrust per engine 105 lbs Electrical Power Solar Arrays 2 arrays 3 panels each Power generated 2,350 watts Electrical power storage 3 batteries 40-amp-hour nickel hydrogen Communications Antennas 2 low-gain antennas Communication links Shuttle Payload Interrogator Deep Space Network Command link 2 kbs per second Data downlink 32 kbs to 1024 kbs On-board Data Capture Method Solid-state recorder Capacity 1.8 gbs 16.8 hrs High Resolution Mirror Assembly Configuration 4 sets of nested, grazing incidence paraboloid/hyperboloid mirror pairs Mirror Weight 2,093 lbs Focal length 33 ft Outer diameter 4 ft Length 33.5 in Material Zerodur Coating 600 angstroms of iridium Attitude Control & Pointing Reaction wheels 6 Inertial reference units 2 Aspect camera 1.40 deg x 1.40 deg fov Science Instruments Charged Coupled Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) High Resolution Camera (HRC) High Energy Transmission Grating (HETG) Low Energy Transmission Grating (LETG) The Inertial Upper Stage Dimensions Length 17.0' Diameter 9.25' Weights Stage 1 - Dry 2,566 lbs Stage 1 - Propellant 19,621 lbs Stage 1 - Total 22,187 lbs Stage 2 - Dry 2,379 lbs Stage 2 - Propellant 6,016 lbs Stage 2 - Total 8,395 lbs Total Inertial Upper Stage - 30,582 lbs At launch Performance Thrust - Stage 1 46,198 lbs, average Burn Duration - Stage 1 125 seconds Thrust - Stage 2 16,350 lbs, average Burn Duration - Stage 2 117 seconds Support Equipment Weights Airborne Support Equipment 5,365 lbs Other 1,285 lbs Total Support Equipment 6,650 lbs Total Payload Weight Total Chandra/IUS/Support 50,162 lbs equipment at liftoff Length Total IUS/Chandra 57.0' FS-1999-09-111-MSFC August 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ News Center Home | Marshall News | Photos | Media Services | Contact Us | Site Map