By Marcia Dunn, Associated Press, 07/24/99
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Columbia's astronauts
flawlessly released the world's most powerful X-ray telescope into
orbit yesterday on the first US space flight commanded by a woman.
Air Force Colonel Eileen Collins announced the news seven hours into the
shuttle journey: ''Chandra's on its way to open the eyes of X-ray astronomy
to the world.''
Unlike the shuttle launch, which was marred by a short circuit and a
premature engine cutoff, the release of the $1.5 billion Chandra X-ray
Observatory went smoothly.
The gold- and silver-colored 45-foot telescope gleamed as it drifted off
into
the sunset on a five-year voyage to search for signs of black holes and
dark
matter, and to survey galaxies, quasars, and erupting stars.
''There is nothing as beautiful as Chandra sailing off on its way to work,''
said
astronaut Cady Coleman, who flipped the ejection switch.
An hour later, a rocket motor propelled the telescope into a deliberately
lopsided orbit that will eventually have a high point of 87,000 miles,
or
one-third of the way to the moon. It will take 10 days for the telescope
to
reach its intended orbit.
The five astronauts cheered when notified that the motor had worked; a
similar motor malfunctioned on a military satellite in April.
The first images are expected in three to four weeks.
''This is an absolutely tremendous day for science,'' said Roger Brissenden,
science flight director at the Chandra control center in Cambridge, Mass.
NASA's space shuttles had never carried such a massive load before.
Chandra weighed 50,000 pounds at launch.
Collins's debut as the first woman to command a US space flight was
postponed twice this week, first by faulty hydrogen measurements, then
by
lightning. The 42-year-old former test pilot flew twice before as a shuttle
copilot.
Columbia's 81/2-minute climb to orbit was more nerve-racking than usual.
Collins was barely nine seconds into her flight when she radioed that she
had
a problem with one of the shuttle's fuel cells, which generate electricity.
Twenty-eight seconds later, after scrutinizing the data, Mission Control
informed Collins that the problem appeared to be a short circuit.
The drop in voltage caused the electronic controller to fail on two of
Columbia's three main engines. But each engine has a backup controller.
In addition, Columbia ended up 7 miles short of its intended orbit when
the
engines cut off one second early because of an insufficient supply of liquid
oxygen.
This story ran on page A3 of the Boston Globe on 07/24/99.
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.