In the Vertical Processing Facility, TRW technicians get ready to attach and deploy a solar panel array on the Chandra X-ray Observatory, which is sitting on a workstand. The panel is to the right. Formerly called the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility, Chandra comprises three major elements: the spacecraft, the science instrument module (SIM), and the world's most powerful X-ray telescope. Chandra will allow scientists from around the world to see previously invisible black holes and high-temperature gas clouds, giving the observatory the potential to rewrite the books on the structure and evolution of our universe. Chandra is scheduled for launch July 9 aboard Space Shuttle Columbia, on mission STS-93
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