Science and Space

space and astronomy articles.

Ongoing Space Missions(2)

(This is the second part of the series "Ongoing Space Missions" in which I will try to inform the readers all about the spacecrafts still travelling or operating beyond near-earth orbit)

Chandra X-ray Observatory

Launched 1999 July 23

The objective -

To explore the hot turbulent regions in space with images 25 times sharper than previous x-ray pictures.

Mission Basics-

Chandra is the third of NASA’s Great Observatories, after the Hubble Space Telescope and the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. Chandra is designed to observe X-rays from high-energy regions of the universe, such as the remnants of exploded stars.Chandra’s improved sensitivity make it possible to perform detailed studies of black holes, supernovas, and dark matter, and increase our understanding of the origin, evolution, and destiny of the universe.

Chandra’s unusual orbit, which has the shape of an ellipse, takes the spacecraft more than a third of the way to the moon before returning to its closest approach to the Earth of 16,000 kilometers (9,942 miles). The time to complete an orbit is 64 hours and 18 minutes.

Mission Cost-

The breakdown for Chandra Costs is $1.65 billion for Development. Operations and Data Analysis for the first five years are budgeted to be $0.75 billion. Launch costs were approximately $350 million. Operations and Data Analysis for the years 5-10 are budgeted to be $245 million

End of Mission

The scientific mission should last 5-15 years but the spacecraft should stay aloft for 25 - 50 years.

posted by: kyawoo at 20:14 | link | comments |
astronomy, unmanned missions

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