Product Description

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. This is 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 insider knowledge, 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 decision making, and a cautionary tale for future large space astronomy missions.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2867532 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 312 pages

Review
"This highly readable book charts the immense 30-year undertaking that led to the launch of the Chandra X-ray observatory on 1999 July 23. The husband-and-wife team of Wallace and Karen Tucker takes us behind the scenes, from the early pioneering days of X-ray astronomy through to the conception, development, and launch of Chandra on board the Space Shuttle...The descriptions of the immense technical and engineering challenges that had to be overcome will appeal to anyone with even a passing interest in astronomical technology, all told with the clarity and pace of a gripping novel." -- Omar Almaini "The Observatory"

About the Author
Wallce Tucker and Karen Tucker, a husband-wife team, are science spokesman and science writer, respectively, for the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center. They the co-authors of numerous books on astronomy, including The Cosmic Inquirers.