An overview of the Chandra mission and goals, Chandra's namesake, top 10 facts.
Classroom activities, printable materials, interactive games & more.
Overview of X-ray Astronomy and X-ray sources: black holes to galaxy clusters.
All Chandra images released to the public listed by date & by category
Current Chandra press releases, status reports, interviews & biographies.
A collection of multimedia, illustrations & animations, a glossary, FAQ & more.
A collection of illustrations, animations and video.
Chandra discoveries in an audio/video format.

STS-93 - Chandra Deployment Mission

Timeline scenario


  1. ( 0:00 hours ) The solid rocket motors ignited and Space Shuttle Columbia lifted off.
  2. ( 0:02 hours ) The burn of the solid rocket motors was complete and they separated from the shuttle.
  3. ( 0:08 hours ) The main engine cut off and the disposable external fuel tank separated.
  4. ( 2:00 hours ) Shuttle payload doors opened and at 8:42 hours, a small spring gently catapulted the satellite into space.
  5. Columbia continued to orbit for a few days while conducting science experiments before returning to Earth.

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  1. ( 9:41 hours ) The first of two solid rocket motors ignited, burned, and separated from Chandra.
  2. ( 9:44 hours ) The second rocket fired, lifting Chandra into a highly elliptical orbit. For the next nine days a second propulsion system fired five times to take the observatory to its final orbit.

Orbit Path
View the Quick Time Movie of Chandra's orbit path.

(1492992 Bytes, NGST)