WASHINGTON, JULY 19: The American space agency NASA and much of the world's scientific community is holding its breath ahead of the launch on Tuesday of the Chandra X-ray observatory, one of the most expensive, risky, and complex space missions ever.The observatory, named after the late Dr Subrahmanyan Chandrashekhar, the Chicago-based Indian scientist whose pioneering work in astrophysics won him a Nobel Prize in 1983, will be aimed at studying esoteric cosmic phenomenon that may throw more light on the origins of the universe.The mission, being launched on the 30th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing, is also making history because it is the first to be commanded by a woman astronaut, a giant leap so to say in the male-dominated space world.Shortly after midnight on Tuesday (approx 10 a.m IST), a crew of five astronauts, led by Air Force Col Eileen Collins, 42, will rocket out of Cape Canaveral inside the space shuttle Columbia carrying the 5-ton, 45-foot-long, $ 1.55 billion (Rs 7000 crore)telescope.The instrument, or more appropriately the orbiting observatory, is designed to study an array of violent and extreme cosmic phenomenon in 50 to 100 times more detail than ever before. X-rays emanating from incredibly dense, collapsed objects such as white dwarfs, neutron stars, and matter falling into black holes, areas in which Chandrasekhar did pioneering work to kickstart the esoteric cosmic terrain called astrophysics, will be examined for clues to the origin of the universe.``It's going to be much, much better than science fiction,'' Harvey Tananbaum, head of the Chandra center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was quoted as saying ahead of the flight.NASA chose Chandra's name for the space station after hosting a naming contest which attracted more than 6000 entries from 50 countries. Of those, 59 entries picked Chandra for the honour. The last X-ray telescope was name after Einstein.Chandra is the third in the series of four great orbiting observatories aimed at covering all thewavelengths of electromagnetic radiation. The series began in 1990 with the Hubble Space Telescope (which studied visible and ultraviolet light) and then came the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. The as yet unnamed last one will study infrared.But Chandra is to-date the most expensive and complex mission ever in an era when politicians are beginning to ask tough questions about the usefulness of exploring space arcana and collecting space exotica. It has also become controversial because of delays, technical hitches and cost over-runs. The complete mission, with all the bells and whistles, is estimated to cost $3 billion (Rs 13,000 crore).The most contentious element though is the risk factor associated with the mission. Unlike other observatories, which were put in lower orbits that could be reached for repairs and rehabilitation in the event of a mishap, Chandra is going to be tossed into a high elliptical orbit that will carry it 87,000 miles up from Earth - almost a third of the distance to themoon.Which means, once it's up there, it's on its own. It has to perform perfectly, or it's gone. If things go according to script, some seven hours into the flight, the Columbia crew will release Chandra first into an orbit 175 miles above Earth. They will then move a safe distance away and wait for a tense hour or two for the two-stage rocket motor to ignite and propel the telescope to its designated 87,000 mile high working orbit.Once the astronauts unplug the telescope from the shuttle's electrical system, they must deploy it within 4.5 hours or it becomes a dud. The crew will get an 8 minute 45 second window of opportunity to deploy it in the right orbit.``This is not a trip to grandma's on a Sunday afternoon,'' one NASA scientist said ahead of the tense mission. By launching Chandra in the highest ever orbit, scientists are putting it beyond the pale and repairs, but they also give it a chance to observe the cosmos unhindered by the Earth or its radiation belts. If all goes well, Chandra couldhave a useful on-orbit lifetime of 10 to 20 years.Scientists now say that based on Chandra's work, contemporary astrophysicists can use the laws of physics to help understand how the universe began and might end, how stars are born, evolve and die, and the nature of cosmic phenomena like black holes, white dwarfs and neutron stars.``Chandrasekhar made fundamental contributions to the theory of black holes and other phenomena that the Chandra X-ray Observatory will study. His life and work exemplify the excellence that we can hope to achieve with this great observatory,'' said NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin.``Chandra was one of the greatest astrophysicists and this is a great honour for him and India. This could not have happened to a more modest man,'' said Vinay Kashyap of the Harvard Smithsonian Institute of Astrophysics, a Chandra student who is part of the team.
