[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 110 (Friday, July 30, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1703]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    CONGRATULATING THE CHANDRA TEAM AT MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

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                    HON. ROBERT E. (BUD) CRAMER, JR.

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 30, 1999

  Mr. CRAMER. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to congratulate the Chandra 
team at Marshall Space Flight Center for their role in the successful 
launch of NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. When Chandra reaches its 
planned orbit in about three weeks, and first turns its instruments to 
the far reaches of space, NASA will have opened a new and exciting 
chapter in space exploration and space science. From this chapter, 
America will reap new and exciting educational, intellectual, and 
quality-of-life benefits that are critical to our Nation's future.
  Chandra is 20 times more sensitive than any previous X-ray telescope, 
and together with NASA's other Great Observatories already in orbit--
the Hubble Telescope for studying objects in space using visible light, 
and the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory for detecting mysterious gamma 
rays--this X-ray observatory will give us the most complete picture 
ever of our universe.
  At the heart of Chandra are eight of the largest and smoothest 
mirrors of their kind ever created. Together, the assembled mirrors 
weigh more than a ton, and if the State of Colorado were polished to 
the same degree of smoothness that went into the manufacture of these 
mirrors, Pike's Peak would stand less than one inch tall. High-
resolution cameras and other sensors complete the suite of hardware 
aboard the observatory, critical components of which have been 
exhaustively tested at Marshall Space Flight Center by the talented 
people of North Alabama. The technology and manufacturing expertise 
that went into constructing these instruments is no less riveting than 
the scientific observations that Chandra will make.
  Just in building, launching, and operating the Chandra X-ray 
Observatory, we have added much to our store of knowledge about optics, 
engineering and design. What science will we learn when Chandra begins 
to open its X-ray eyes to space? Scientists stand to make fundamental 
advances in our understanding of many of the most puzzling features of 
the universe: black holes and quasars, the identity of ``dark matter,'' 
and the very age of the universe itself. By looking deep into the 
hottest, most violent parts of the cosmos--providing us with a 
laboratory that could never be reproduced here on Earth--Chandra will 
reveal an entire new level of detail in the far reaches of space, and 
will take our minds where our feet may never have a chance to tread.
  Mr. Speaker, I share pride in Chandra's launch and the excitement of 
discoveries yet to come with my friends and neighbors in North Alabama, 
with NASA, and with my colleagues in the House.

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