The shipment of the spacecraft was delayed in mid-October so the prime contractor, TRW Space and Electronics Group, Redondo Beach, Calif., could complete testing on flight software. Chandra will provide images that are fifty times more detailed than previous X-ray missions. At more than 45 feet in length and weighing more than five tons, it will be one of the largest objects ever placed in Earth orbit by the Space Shuttle. Chandrasekhar, widely regarded as one of the foremost astrophysicists of the 20th century, won the Nobel Prize in 1983 for his theoretical studies of physical processes important to the structure and evolution of stars. The NEAR mission team conducted a 24-minute, large bipropellant engine burn Jan. 3, to increase the spacecraft's speed for a rendezvous with Eros in February 2000.
Preliminary indications are that the burn was successful.
The burn increased NEAR's speed by 2,100 mph to catch up to the faster-moving Eros asteroid, which overtook NEAR during the Dec. 23rd flyby. At the time of the burn, the spacecraft was 565,650 miles from Eros. Plans will be finalized for a small hydrazine engine burn to correct any deviation from the spacecraft's intended location. This burn is expected to take place in one to two weeks. Periodic trajectory correction maneuvers will be executed by the Mission Operations Center as deemed necessary to keep the spacecraft on course during its yearlong journey to the asteroid.