Wednesday, October 1, 2008

10 facts your mom didn't tell you about chandra



#10: Chandra flies 200 times higher than Hubble - more than 1/3 of the way to the moon!

#9: 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!

#8: During maneuvers from one target to the next, Chandra slews more slowly than the minute hand on a clock.

#7: At 45 feet long, Chandra is the largest satellite the shuttle has ever launched!

#6: If Colorado were as smooth as Chandra's mirrors, Pikes Peak would be less than one inch tall!

#5: Chandra's resolving power is equivalent to the ability to read a stop sign at a distance of twelve miles.

#4:The electrical power required to operate the Chandra spacecraft and instruments is 2 kilowatts, about the same power as a hair dryer.

#3: The light from some of the quasars observed by Chandra will have been traveling through space for ten billion years.

#2: STS-93, the space mission that deployed Chandra, was the first NASA shuttle mission commanded
by a woman.

#1: Chandra can observe X-rays from particles up to the last second before they fall into a black hole!!!

WOW!!!

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