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.

The Chandra X-ray Observatory Poster

The Chandra X-ray Observatory is the third in NASA's family of Great Observatories that includes the Hubble Space Telescope and the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. TRW (now NGST) was the prime contractor for the spacecraft. Key subcontractors include Ball Aerospace & Technologies, Inc., Eastman Kodak Company, and Raytheon Optical Systems, Inc. The scientific instruments were built by teams from MIT, Pennsylvania State University, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, the Laboratory for Space Research in the Netherlands, and the Max Planck Institute in Germany. The Smithsonian's Chandra X-ray Center controls science and flight operations from Cambridge, MA.

Press Kit Contents:
  1. Press Release & Contact List

  2. Fact Sheets & Biographies
    1. Fact Sheets
      1. Cassiopeia A
      2. The Chandra X-ray Observatory
      3. Exploring the Invisible universe
      4. Chandra Quick Facts
    2. Biographies
      1. E. Weiler
      2. H. Tananbaum
      3. M. Weisskopf
      4. R. Kirshner


  3. Still Images & Animations/Video
    1. Still Images
      1. Cas A Chandra image
      2. Cas A Optical-X-ray comparison
      3. Cas A Rosat-Chandra comparison
      4. Cas A energy filtered image
      5. PKS 0637-752
    2. Animations/Video
      1. Supernova Explosion (animation)
      2. Chandra deployment (video)
      3. IUS, IPS burns to orbit (animation)
      4. Sunshade door open (animation)
      5. Chandra Light path (animation)
First Light Press Kit in PDF Format (283 kb)

Watch replays of the Chandra X-ray Observatory First Light Briefing
at NASA Headquarters (requires RealPlayer).