Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
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Chandra X-Ray Observatory
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As part of the SAO/MST AXAF Mission Support Team, I contributed
to reviews of the design and manufacture of the High Resolution
Mirror Assembly (HRMA) and Optical Bench portions of the Chandra
X-Ray Observatory (CXO), and also to the alignment of the X-Ray
mirrors. The HMRA consists of a nest of four pairs of Wolter Type-I
paraboloid-hyperboloid X-Ray mirrors; it was designed and built by
Eastman Kodak Company at Rochester, NY.
The MST was also responsible for the ground calibration of the HRMA at the X-ray Calibration Facility (XRCF) at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Currently I work on the calibration of the Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO) as part of the CXC Calibration group. Here is a schematic of the observatory. Some of our work on CXO mirror calibration is described here
The ground calibration and the on-orbit calibration are being used to refine a high-fidelity raytrace model of the CXO performance.
After two scrubbed launch attempts, Chandra was successfully launched 1999 July 23, 12:31AM EDT, as part of space shuttle mission STS-93.
Here are some pictures of the CXO at various phases of assembly. (More pictures can be seen at the Chandra photo gallery.