Chandra X-ray Observatory is a man-made spacecraft represented in the Solar System, the region of space around the Sun, our star, within the universe. Its catalogue reference body is Earth. Explore its story and purpose, then find the spacecraft on the interactive 3D space map.

Chandra X-ray Observatory — Studies high-energy astronomical sources from Earth orbit.

Mission and scientific objectives
Chandra X-ray Observatory is associated with NASA. Studies high-energy astronomical sources from Earth orbit. The mission type is X-ray space telescope.

The Chandra X-ray Observatory is the world's most powerful X-ray telescope. It has eight-times greater resolution and is able to detect sources more than 20-times fainter than any previous X-ray telescope.

The Chandra X-ray Observatory is part of NASA's fleet of "Great Observatories" which also includes the Hubble Space Telescope, and James Webb Space Telescope. Chandra allows scientists from around the world to obtain X-ray images of exotic environments to help understand the structure and evolution of the universe.

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The Chandra X-ray Observatory allows scientists from around the world to obtain X-ray images of exotic environments to help understand the structure and evolution of the universe.

The Chandra X-ray Observatory is part of NASA's fleet of "Great Observatories" which also includes the Hubble Space Telescope, and James Webb Space Telescope. Chandra allows scientists from around the world to obtain X-ray images of exotic environments to help understand the structure and evolution of the universe. The Chandra X-ray Observatory program is managed by NASA's Marshall Center for the Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) in Cambridge, Mass., is responsible for the conduct of the day-to-day flight operations and science activities from the Operations Control Center and Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) facilities. The CXC Web site is the primary resource for information on the Chanda X-ray Observatory mission.

Chandra Spacecraft and Instruments

The Chandra telescope system consists of four pairs of mirrors and their support structure. X-ray telescopes must be very different from optical telescopes. Because of their high-energy, X-ray photons penetrate into a mirror much as bullets slam into a wall.

Imagine making the surface of the Earth so smooth that the highest mountain was less than two meters (78 inches) tall! On a much smaller scale, the scientists and engineers at Raytheon Optical Systems in Danbury, Connecticut accomplished an equivalent feat when they polished and ground the four pairs of Chandra mirrors to the smoothness of a few atoms. Just as bullets ricochet when they hit a wall at a grazing angle, so too will X-rays ricochet off mirrors. The mirrors have to be exquisitely shaped and aligned nearly parallel to incoming X-rays. Thus they look more like glass barrels than the familiar dish shape of optical telescopes.

The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) in Cambridge, Mass., is responsible for the conduct of the day-to-day flight operations and science activities from the Operations Control Center and Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) facilities.

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