Revealing the Universe: The Making of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory

By Wallace H. Tucker and Karen Tucker

When the first X-ray detectors revealed many places in the universe that are too hot to be seen by optical and radio telescopes, pioneering X-ray astronomers realized they were onto something big. They knew that a large X-ray observatory must be created if they were ever to understand such astonishing phenomena as neutron stars, supernovas, black holes, and dark matter. What they could not know was how monumental in time, money, and effort this undertaking would be. Revealing the Universe tells the story of the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

From the first proposal for a large X-ray telescope in 1970 to the deployment of Chandra by the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1999, this book chronicles the technical feats, political struggles, and personal dramas that transformed an inspired vision into the world's supreme X-ray observatory. With an insider's knowledge and a storyteller's instincts, Wallace and Karen Tucker describe the immense challenges that this project posed for such high-tech industry giants as TRW, Eastman Kodak, and Hughes Danbury Optical Systems (now Raytheon Optical Systems). Their portrayal of the role of NASA is itself an extraordinary case study of multibillion-dollar government decisionmaking, and a cautionary tale for future large space astronomy missions.Revealing the Universe is primarily the story of the men and women whose discoveries, skills, failures, and successes made the Chandra X-ray Observatory possible.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674004973
• ISBN13: 9780674004979
• Release Date: May 2001
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Read This One - You Won't Regret It

It might be hard to believe that writing about the making of a telescope could make for a good book. This husband & wife team pulled it off wonderfully. "Revealing the Universe..." takes you easily (even for the novice) through some basic physics and the history of X-Ray astronomy. Then the authors get into the Chandra project proper and the going gets good. They take the reader through the often dramatic process of getting such a complicated and costly project through the cogs of bureaucracy and politics and the infinite patience and perseverence of those scientists and administrators who made the project happen. Among the most interesting parts of the book are the descriptions of the technological miracles the scientists had to perform to make Chandra a reality; the impossibly precise requiements for the mirrors, for example, stretch the imagination and make for great "mind trips". Reading through sections describing crucial "make-or-break" tests of the different components is intense, like watching Robert DeNiro in a great car chase scene. And then, first light...the thing works...just like it was designed...or better! Awesome! "Revealing the Universe..." is excellent for those interested in astronomy as well as for those interested in expanding your mind with a good read.