Nishi Kantamneni

Chirec International School, Hyderabad

27 December 2018

Space Mission Achievements

International Space Science Essay Competition

Although humans have been looking up at space for thousands of years, we

have only begun to comprehend what is happening over the past few decades.
Humanity has progressed a lot in the field of space. Our understanding of space
is unmatched to any time before in our history. We went from wondering if we
could go to the moon to trying to make Mars habitable. Throughout the
decades, there has been much advancement in space exploration; the names
Hubble and Apollo are now legendary for changing the course of history with
their scientific breakthroughs. Another headway in the understanding of space
was the invention of the Chandra X-ray Observatory(CXO).

Even though there isn't much visible light in space, there are many other
wavelengths of light that astronomers want to learn about: in particular, X-rays.
X-rays are emitted from objects that contain very hot gases from about a million
Kelvin to hundreds of millions of Kelvin. Many things in space give off x-rays,
and amongst those astronomical objects are black holes, neutron stars, binary
star systems, supernova remnants, stars and sometimes even comets. Due to
Earth’s shield like atmosphere, X rays that come from other parts of the
universe cannot be observed from the ground. For this reason, NASA had to
come up with a way to recognize the x-rays being omitted in outer space.

CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVER !1

 In 1999, NASA launched an X-ray observatory in order to detect the X-
rays in outer space. The Chandra X-ray Observatory, named after
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, an Indian American Nobel Prize winner, can
identify X-ray sources 100 times fainter than those detected by other X-ray
telescopes. The observatory focuses on the high-energy area of the universe and
delivers clear images of supernova remnants, quasars, exploding stars, and black
holes while also helping scientist probe into the mysteries of the universe.
Chandra orbits around the Earth in order to observe the rays.

Chandra uses four pairs of nested mirrors: X-rays hit the top mirrors in
each pain and then bounce down to the secondary mirror. After bouncing off
the mirrors, the rays travel down a 26-foot tube towards the scientific
instruments at the other end of the telescope. With this technology, Chandra has
reached a milestone in X-ray telescopes and has widened the scope for research
into high-energy matters. In 2000, astronomers got their first glimpse of the
object at the center of a remnant when Chandra picked up images of the
supernova remnant Cassiopeia. By using the Chandra telescope, astronomers
have detected low energy X-rays from Pluto for the first time. These results
provided new insight into Pluto and its environment. Chandra helps enhance
our understanding of the origins of the universe and could also help prepare
humans for voyages to other star systems.

In 1999, NASA had invented a telescope that would change the way they
looked at the universe. The Chandra X-ray Observatory has opened up new
doors that could help explain the creation of the universe and the vast number
of astrological objects in it. Chandra has shaped the way for astronomers to
explore high-energy areas of outer space and expand their understanding of the
universe.

CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVER !2