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Telescope System
In November of 1996, the telescope system was put aboard a C5 military
transport aircraft, flown to Huntsville, Alabama, and delivered to the Marshall
Space Flight Center. There the telescope system and the scientific instruments
were put through thousands of individual tests in an X-ray calibration facility
especially constructed for this purpose by the Chandra support team at Marshall
Space Flight Center. The tests, which were completed in May of 1997, showed
that Chandra could produce X-ray images 25 times sharper than previous X-ray
telescopes. The telescope's resolution is equivalent to being able to read
the text of a newspaper from half a mile away.
After the telescope was calibrated, it was flown to TRW (now NGST) in
Redondo Beach, California. There the telescope system,
instruments, and spacecraft were put together and tested for
space-worthiness. Finally, in 1999 the whole observatory was
flown to Cape Canaveral and placed on the space shuttle for
its last ride, into space.
Travels of the Chandra Mirrors
More Chandra Specifications [pdf | html]
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