Revealing the universe : the making of the Chandra X-ray Observatory / Wallace Tucker and Karen Tucker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tucker, Wallace H.

Contributor:

Tucker, Karen.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chandra X-ray Observatory (U.S.)--History.

Chandra X-ray Observatory (U.S.).

X-ray astronomy--United States--History.

X-ray astronomy.

History.

United States.

Physical Description:

vi, 295 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2001.

Summary:

When the first X-ray detectors revealed many places in the universe that are too hot to be seen by optical and radio telescopes, pioneering X-ray astronomers realized they were onto something big. They knew that a large X-ray observatory must be created if they were ever to understand such astonishing phenomena as neutron stars, supernovas, black holes, and dark matter. What they could not know was how monumental in time, money, and effort this undertaking would be. Revealing the Universe tells the story of the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

From the first proposal for a large X-ray telescope in 1970 to the deployment of Chandra by the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1999, this book chronicles the technical feats, political struggles, and personal dramas that transformed an inspired vision into the world's supreme X-ray observatory. With an insider's knowledge and a storyteller's instincts, Wallace and Karen Tucker describe the immense challenges that this project posed for such high-tech industry giants as TRW, Eastman Kodak, and Hughes Danbury Optical Systems (now Raytheon Optical Systems). Their portrayal of the role of NASA is itself an extraordinary case study of multibillion-dollar government decisionmaking, and a cautionary tale for future large space astronomy missions.

Revealing the Universe is primarily the story of the men and women whose discoveries, skills, failures, and successes made the Chandra X-ray Observatory possible.

Contents:

I. The Dream of a Large X-ray Observatory

1. High-Energy Vision 7

2. Invisible Light 11

3. Light Quanta 16

4. The Birth of X-ray Astronomy 22

5. X-ray Stars 31

6. The Uhuru Years 39

7. The Einstein Observatory 46

II. A New Concept and a New Start

8. Ready for the Job 55

9. Blazing the Trail 60

10. Jockeying for Position 68

11. The Great Observatories 75

12. The Belmont Retreat 81

13. Progress and Setbacks 87

III. The Mirror Challenge

14. The Challenge Is Set 99

15. The Challenge Is Met 110

IV. Restructuring

16. A Bruising Lesson 133

17. Conflict and Compromise 140

V. Building an Observatory

18. Grinding, Polishing, and Coating the Mirrors 151

19. The Mirror Assembly 157

20. Calibration 167

21. The Scientific Instruments 171

22. An Observatory and a Name 190

VI. Looking over Galileo's Shoulder

23. Launch 211

24. Activation 220

25. First Light 235

26. The Exploration Begins 246.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [263]-270) and index.

ISBN:

0674004973

OCLC:

45201964