An outline drawing of the Observatory was shown in Figure 1.1 . The spacecraft equipment panels are mounted to, and supported by, a central cylindrical structure. The rear of the spacecraft attaches to the telescope system. Mechanisms, such as those required for the sunshade door, are also part of this subsystem.
Thermal control is primarily passive, using thermal coatings and multi-layer insulation blankets.
This subsystem includes all hardware necessary to generate, condition, and store electrical energy. These eclipses occur infrequently due to the particular nature of the Chandra orbit. This subsystem includes all the equipment necessary to provide ranging, modulation, and demodulation of radio frequency transmission of commands and data to and from the Deep Space Network NASA Communication System. This subsystem includes the hardware and control algorithms for attitude determination and for attitude and solar array control. The solar arrays can be rotated about one axis.