Chandra Mission
Hardware
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STS-93 - Chandra Deployment Mission
- The solid rocket motors ignited and Space Shuttle Columbia lifted off.
- The burn of the solid rocket motors was complete and they separated from the shuttle.
- The main engine cut off and the disposable external fuel tank separated.
- Shuttle payload doors opened and at 8:42 hours, a small spring gently catapulted the satellite into space.
- Columbia continued to orbit for a few days while conducting science experiments before returning to Earth.
- The first of two solid rocket motors ignited, burned, and separated from Chandra.
- The second rocket fired, lifting Chandra into a highly elliptical orbit. For the next nine days a second propulsion system fired five times to take the observatory to its final orbit.