AXAF/CXO_v_bw_o_TPMBK (ca. 1983-84, unnumbered prob. LM&SC photo)
“BLACK HOLES, QUASARS AND . . . . ?--Lockheed Missiles & Space Company has been awarded a $4 million contract by NASA to investigate the design of the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF).
AXAF will probe some of the most mysterious objects in the universe through observations in the x-ray region of the electromagnetic spectrum. These objects, such as matter around black holes, quasars and neutron stars, release massive amounts of high energy.
One of the fundamental question AXAF observers will address involves the fate of the universe. From previous x-ray telescopes, on sounding rockets and satellites, astronomers have observed a diffuse and uniform radiation emanating from all parts of the universe. It is not clear whether this energy comes from accumulated point sources or is a remnant of the big bang. AXAF should be able to provide the data needed to answer this question and many others.
AXAF is a national observatory scheduled to be placed on orbit by the space shuttle early next decade.”
8.5” x 11”. The size pretty much confirms it being of Lockheed Missiles & Space Company (LM&SC) origin, possibly as part of a promotional/informational presentation/portfolio. Interestingly though, I haven’t been able to find a single source online that even mentions LM&SC…in any capacity WRT AXAF. TRW was eventually selected to assemble & test the observatory. Note also the spacewalking Astronaut, since AXAF was initially intended to be in an orbit serviceable by Space Shuttle crews.
Beautiful work by Robert Preston, who I assume to be a LM&SC artist. Unfortunately, I've found nothing on him.
“The Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO), previously known as the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF), is a Flagship-class space telescope launched aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-93 by NASA on July 23, 1999. Chandra is sensitive to X-ray sources 100 times fainter than any previous X-ray telescope, enabled by the high angular resolution of its mirrors. Since the Earth's atmosphere absorbs the vast majority of X-rays, they are not detectable from Earth-based telescopes; therefore space-based telescopes are required to make these observations. Chandra is an Earth satellite in a 64-hour orbit, and its mission is ongoing as of 2023.
Chandra is one of the Great Observatories, along with the Hubble Space Telescope, Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (1991–2000), and the Spitzer Space Telescope (2003–2020). The telescope is named after the Nobel Prize-winning Indian-American astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. Its mission is similar to that of ESA's XMM-Newton spacecraft, also launched in 1999 but the two telescopes have different design foci; Chandra has much higher angular resolution.
History:
In 1976 the Chandra X-ray Observatory (called AXAF at the time) was proposed to NASA by Riccardo Giacconi and Harvey Tananbaum. Preliminary work began the following year at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), where the telescope is now operated for NASA at the Chandra X-ray Center in the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. In the meantime, in 1978, NASA launched the first imaging X-ray telescope, Einstein (HEAO-2), into orbit. Work continued on the AXAF project throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1992, to reduce costs, the spacecraft was redesigned. Four of the twelve planned mirrors were eliminated, as were two of the six scientific instruments. AXAF's planned orbit was changed to an elliptical one, reaching one third of the way to the Moon's at its farthest point. This eliminated the possibility of improvement or repair by the Space Shuttle but put the observatory above the Earth's radiation belts for most of its orbit. AXAF was assembled and tested by TRW (now Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems) in Redondo Beach, California.
AXAF was renamed Chandra as part of a contest held by NASA in 1998, which drew more than 6,000 submissions worldwide. The contest winners, Jatila van der Veen and Tyrel Johnson (then a high school teacher and high school student, respectively), suggested the name in honor of Nobel Prize–winning Indian-American astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. He is known for his work in determining the maximum mass of white dwarf stars, leading to greater understanding of high energy astronomical phenomena such as neutron stars and black holes. Fittingly, the name Chandra means "moon" in Sanskrit.
Originally scheduled to be launched in December 1998, the spacecraft was delayed several months, eventually being launched on July 23, 1999, at 04:31 UTC by Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-93. Chandra was deployed by Cady Coleman from Columbia at 11:47 UTC. The Inertial Upper Stage's first stage motor ignited at 12:48 UTC, and after burning for 125 seconds and separating, the second stage ignited at 12:51 UTC and burned for 117 seconds. At 22,753 kilograms (50,162 lb), it was the heaviest payload ever launched by the shuttle, a consequence of the two-stage Inertial Upper Stage booster rocket system needed to transport the spacecraft to its high orbit.
Chandra has been returning data since the month after it launched. It is operated by the SAO at the Chandra X-ray Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with assistance from MIT and Northrop Grumman Space Technology. The ACIS CCDs suffered particle damage during early radiation belt passages. To prevent further damage, the instrument is now removed from the telescope's focal plane during passages.
Although Chandra was initially given an expected lifetime of 5 years, on September 4, 2001, NASA extended its lifetime to 10 years "based on the observatory's outstanding results." Physically Chandra could last much longer. A 2004 study performed at the Chandra X-ray Center indicated that the observatory could last at least 15 years. It is active as of 2022 and has an upcoming schedule of observations published by the Chandra X-ray Center.
The above extract at/from:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandra_X-ray_Observatory
Credit: Wikipedia
An excellent read. The author, Martin C. Weisskopf is project scientist for NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and Chief Scientist for X-ray Astronomy in the Space Sciences Department at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0913067107
Credit: Martin C. Weisskopf/ National Academy of Science website
AXAF/CXO_v_bw_o_TPMBK (ca. 1983-84, unnumbered prob. LM&SC photo)
“BLACK HOLES, QUASARS AND . . . . ?--Lockheed Missiles & Space Company has been awarded a $4 million contract by NASA to investigate the design of the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF).
AXAF will probe some of the most mysterious objects in the universe through observations in the x-ray region of the electromagnetic spectrum. These objects, such as matter around black holes, quasars and neutron stars, release massive amounts of high energy.
One of the fundamental question AXAF observers will address involves the fate of the universe. From previous x-ray telescopes, on sounding rockets and satellites, astronomers have observed a diffuse and uniform radiation emanating from all parts of the universe. It is not clear whether this energy comes from accumulated point sources or is a remnant of the big bang. AXAF should be able to provide the data needed to answer this question and many others.
AXAF is a national observatory scheduled to be placed on orbit by the space shuttle early next decade.”
8.5” x 11”. The size pretty much confirms it being of Lockheed Missiles & Space Company (LM&SC) origin, possibly as part of a promotional/informational presentation/portfolio. Interestingly though, I haven’t been able to find a single source online that even mentions LM&SC…in any capacity WRT AXAF. TRW was eventually selected to assemble & test the observatory. Note also the spacewalking Astronaut, since AXAF was initially intended to be in an orbit serviceable by Space Shuttle crews.
Beautiful work by Robert Preston, who I assume to be a LM&SC artist. Unfortunately, I've found nothing on him.
“The Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO), previously known as the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF), is a Flagship-class space telescope launched aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-93 by NASA on July 23, 1999. Chandra is sensitive to X-ray sources 100 times fainter than any previous X-ray telescope, enabled by the high angular resolution of its mirrors. Since the Earth's atmosphere absorbs the vast majority of X-rays, they are not detectable from Earth-based telescopes; therefore space-based telescopes are required to make these observations. Chandra is an Earth satellite in a 64-hour orbit, and its mission is ongoing as of 2023.
Chandra is one of the Great Observatories, along with the Hubble Space Telescope, Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (1991–2000), and the Spitzer Space Telescope (2003–2020). The telescope is named after the Nobel Prize-winning Indian-American astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. Its mission is similar to that of ESA's XMM-Newton spacecraft, also launched in 1999 but the two telescopes have different design foci; Chandra has much higher angular resolution.
History:
In 1976 the Chandra X-ray Observatory (called AXAF at the time) was proposed to NASA by Riccardo Giacconi and Harvey Tananbaum. Preliminary work began the following year at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), where the telescope is now operated for NASA at the Chandra X-ray Center in the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. In the meantime, in 1978, NASA launched the first imaging X-ray telescope, Einstein (HEAO-2), into orbit. Work continued on the AXAF project throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1992, to reduce costs, the spacecraft was redesigned. Four of the twelve planned mirrors were eliminated, as were two of the six scientific instruments. AXAF's planned orbit was changed to an elliptical one, reaching one third of the way to the Moon's at its farthest point. This eliminated the possibility of improvement or repair by the Space Shuttle but put the observatory above the Earth's radiation belts for most of its orbit. AXAF was assembled and tested by TRW (now Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems) in Redondo Beach, California.
AXAF was renamed Chandra as part of a contest held by NASA in 1998, which drew more than 6,000 submissions worldwide. The contest winners, Jatila van der Veen and Tyrel Johnson (then a high school teacher and high school student, respectively), suggested the name in honor of Nobel Prize–winning Indian-American astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. He is known for his work in determining the maximum mass of white dwarf stars, leading to greater understanding of high energy astronomical phenomena such as neutron stars and black holes. Fittingly, the name Chandra means "moon" in Sanskrit.
Originally scheduled to be launched in December 1998, the spacecraft was delayed several months, eventually being launched on July 23, 1999, at 04:31 UTC by Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-93. Chandra was deployed by Cady Coleman from Columbia at 11:47 UTC. The Inertial Upper Stage's first stage motor ignited at 12:48 UTC, and after burning for 125 seconds and separating, the second stage ignited at 12:51 UTC and burned for 117 seconds. At 22,753 kilograms (50,162 lb), it was the heaviest payload ever launched by the shuttle, a consequence of the two-stage Inertial Upper Stage booster rocket system needed to transport the spacecraft to its high orbit.
Chandra has been returning data since the month after it launched. It is operated by the SAO at the Chandra X-ray Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with assistance from MIT and Northrop Grumman Space Technology. The ACIS CCDs suffered particle damage during early radiation belt passages. To prevent further damage, the instrument is now removed from the telescope's focal plane during passages.
Although Chandra was initially given an expected lifetime of 5 years, on September 4, 2001, NASA extended its lifetime to 10 years "based on the observatory's outstanding results." Physically Chandra could last much longer. A 2004 study performed at the Chandra X-ray Center indicated that the observatory could last at least 15 years. It is active as of 2022 and has an upcoming schedule of observations published by the Chandra X-ray Center.
The above extract at/from:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandra_X-ray_Observatory
Credit: Wikipedia
An excellent read. The author, Martin C. Weisskopf is project scientist for NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and Chief Scientist for X-ray Astronomy in the Space Sciences Department at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0913067107
Credit: Martin C. Weisskopf/ National Academy of Science website