The Chandra X-ray Center: a combined science and operations center

Abstract

The Chandra X-ray Observatory, which was launched in 1999, has to date completed almost seven years of successful science and mission operations. The Observatory, which is the third of NASA's Great Observatories, is the most sophisticated X-ray Observatory yet built. Chandra is designed to observe X-rays from high-energy regions of the universe, such as the remnants of exploded stars, environs near black holes, and the hot tenuous gas filling the void between the galaxies bound in clusters. The Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) is the focal point of scientific and mission operations for the Observatory, and provides support to the scientific community in its use of Chandra. We describe the CXC's organization, functions and principal processes, with emphasis on changes through different phases of the mission from pre-launch to long-term operations, and we discuss lessons we have learned in developing and operating a joint science and mission operations center.