For Release: August 23, 1999

Dave Drachlis
Chandra Program Office
Marshall Space Flight Center
Huntsville, Ala.
Dave.Drachlis@msfc.nasa.gov
(256) 544-0034

Don Savage
Office of Space Science
NASA Headquarters
Washington, D.C.
Donald.Savage@hq.nasa.gov
(202) 358-1547

Wallace Tucker
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Cambridge, Mass.
Wtucker@cfa.harvard.edu
(617) 496-7998

Media Advisory: 99-199

First Images From Marshall Center Managed
Chandra X-ray Observatory to be Released

The first images from the world’s most powerful X-ray telescope, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, will be unveiled at a media briefing at 1 p.m. EDT, Thursday, Aug. 26. The briefing will be held in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St. SW, Washington, DC. The images include the spectacular remnants of a supernova and other astronomical objects.

Panelists will be:

• Dr. Martin Weisskopf, NASA’s Chandra Project Scientist, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.;
• Dr. Edward Weiler, Associate Administrator for Space Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.;
• Dr. Harvey Tananbaum, Director of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center, Cambridge, Mass.; and
• Dr. Robert Kirshner, astrophysicist, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

The event will be carried live on NASA Television with question-and-answer capability for reporters covering the briefing from participating NASA centers and from the Chandra Operations Control Center in Cambridge. NASA Television is available on transponder 9C, satellite GE-2 at 85 degrees West longitude, vertical polarization, frequency 3880 MHz, audio of 6.8 MHz.

Chandra, managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., has been undergoing activation and checkout since it was placed into orbit during Space Shuttle mission STS-93 in July. Chandra will examine exploding stars, black holes, colliding galaxies and other high-energy cosmic phenomena to help scientists gain a better understanding of the structure and evolution of the universe.

Chandra images and additional information will be available following the briefing on the Internet at:

http://chandra.nasa.gov

and

http://chandra.harvard.edu