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\h        The Chandra X-ray Observatory orbits high above the Earth,

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\h        peering into the blackest reaches of space.

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\h        Exploring the most menacing and magnificent features of the

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\h        cosmos, this remarkable telescope is revealing what our eyes

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\h        can't, taking us beyond visible light.

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\h        Chandra is NASA's flagship X-ray astronomy mission,

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\h        providing a window into a universe where the most powerful

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\h        phenomena both flicker in the darkness and shine brightly.

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\h        DR. HARVEY TANANBAUM: Some of these things, when

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\h        you see them for the first time, you make the discovery, you

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\h        make the breakthroughs, and it may be that, that we’re at a

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\h        particularly special point in time where these key discoveries

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\h        are made and, once we understand them, we’ve made certain

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\h        incredible breakthroughs of our understanding of, of the

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\h        universe and the laws of physics that govern the universe.

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\h        The gleaming Chandra is a member of NASA's Great

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\h        Observatories -- a constellation of extremely powerful space-

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\h        based telescopes orbiting the planet.

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\h        The goal of this program is simple but ambitious: to scan the

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\h        depths of space in search of answers to astronomy's greatest

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\h        questions.

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\h        Astronomers examine the universe mainly through four forms

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\h        of light: infrared, gamma, visible and X-ray light.

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\h        Studying objects like stars through each type of light reveals

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\h        new features about them.

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\h        In a way, it's like looking at space through all of the possible

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\h        colors to get the most detailed and beautiful picture possible.

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\h        The Chandra observatory specializes in examining the skies

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\h        through the most powerful form of light: X-rays.

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\h        DR. JEREMY DRAKE: Chandra has now taught us that we

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\h        can use X-rays to go and search out stellar nurseries, work out

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\h        where stars are forming in our own galaxy and in other

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\h        galaxies.

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\h        X-ray light is particularly helpful in cutting through stellar haze

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\h        and tracing intensely destructive events like the explosion of

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\h        stars.

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\h        A cooperative of scientists from organizations including

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\h        NASA and the Smithsonian designed the Chandra X-ray

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\h        Observatory to be a black hole hunter and explore high-energy

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\h        regions of space.

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\h        The observatory was named after Subrahmanyan

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\h        Chandrasekhar - a Nobel-prize-winning astrophysicist who

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\h        studied the structure and evolution of stars.

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\h        After decades of development, NASA lifted Chandra into

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\h        space aboard Space Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999.

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\h        SOT: Liftoff video with announcer quote

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\h        Only eight hours after launch, springs gently push Chandra

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\h        from Columbia's payload bay, sending the new telescope on its

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\h        way.

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\h        SOT: Video of release of Chandra into space