Ten facts about Chandra X-ray Observatory

Via Chandra.Harvard.Edu

1. Chandra flies 200 times higher than Hubble - more than 1/3 of the way to the moon!
2. Chandra can observe X-rays from clouds of gas so vast that it takes light five million years to go from one side to the other!
3. During maneuvers from one target to the next, Chandra slews more slowly than the minute hand on a clock.
4. At 45 feet long, Chandra is the largest satellite the shuttle has ever launched.
5. If Colorado were as smooth as Chandra’s mirrors, Pikes Peak would be less than one inch tall
6. Chandra’s resolving power is equivalent to the ability to read a stop sign at a distance of twelve miles.
7. The electrical power required to operate the Chandra spacecraft and instruments is 2 kilowatts, about the same power as a hair dryer.
8. The light from some of the quasars observed by Chandra will have been traveling through space for ten billion years.
9. STS-93, the space mission that deployed Chandra, was the first NASA shuttle mission commanded by a woman.
10. Chandra can observe X-rays from particles up to the last second before they fall into a black hole!