The mirrors will be redirecting X-ray photons to a focus at the HRC for a large portion of Chandra's orbit. It will take Chandra 64 hours (2 & 2/3 days) to complete one orbit around the Earth. The highly elliptical orbit will carry Chandra above the Van Allen radiation belts 85% of the time, so Chandra will have uninterrupted observing sessions for as long as 55 hours.

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Slide 12 of 28