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Extraordinary commitment and precision is required to plan and
build telescopes that will be placed in space where they are
operated by remote control in a hostile environment of wild
temperature swings and hard vacuum, after withstanding the
controlled fury of launch. The entire process typically takes
many years and creativity is demanded when unexpected changes are
imposed. The Chandra observatory was first proposed to NASA in 1976
and funding began in 1977 when NASA's Marshall Space Flight
Center started the definition studies of the telescope.
In 1992, there was a major restructuring of the observatory.
NASA decided that in order to reduce cost, the number of mirrors
would be decreased from twelve to eight and only four of the six
scientific instruments would be used. At this point the planned
orbit was changed from low to high earth orbit to preserve the
scientific capability of Chandra.
Teams of scientists, engineers, technicians and managers who work
at numerous government centers, Universities and corporations
have been building and assembling Chandra over the past twenty
years. Many of these dedicated men and women have been involved
in the project from its inception.
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