Conquering the Final Frontier with X-ray visionArea51/Links
Space Shuttle: Columbia

By: Heather N. Gibson

Understanding the complexities of the universe just got a hand up on the International Space Station. The renamed Chandra X-ray Observatory, in honor of the late Indian-American Nobel Laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, will transmit unprecedented X-ray images of the universe from the Space Station.

The observatory has been loaded into the cargo bay of Space Shuttle Columbia and is ready for launch.

Days: Hours: Mins: Secs:
To Liftoff


MISSION OVERVIEW:


VEHICLE: Columbia/OV-102
LOCATION: Launch pad 39B
TARGET KSC LAUNCH DATE/TIME: Unknown(no ealier than July 20, 1999 at 12:36 am EDT
TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: July 24, 1999 at 11:31 pm EDT
LAUNCH WINDOW:46 minutes
MISSION DURATION:4 days, 23 hours
CREW: Collins, Ashby, Hawley, Coleman, Tognini
ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 153 nautical miles/28.45 degrees