Stunning Photos from the $2 Billion Space Telescope

One of NASA’s premier space telescopes, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, might be headed for an early retirement due to significant budget reductions.

For the past 25 years, Chandra has orbited Earth, capturing the universe in X-ray wavelengths invisible to the naked eye. Its remarkable images have unveiled a universe abundant with black holes, provided concrete evidence of dark matter, and captured the luminosity of neutron stars colliding, which alters the fabric of space-time.

The observatory, which cost NASA approximately $2.2 billion to construct and launch, has proven its worth over the years. “For many years it was the most productive mission in NASA’s program if measured in publications per dollar spent,” stated Thomas Zurbuchen, former Associate Administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate from 2016 to 2022, in an email to Business Insider.

However, NASA’s financial plans for 2025 have drastically cut Chandra’s funding from $68 million to $41 million. The budget is set to further decrease in the following years, stabilizing at $26.6 million annually until it drops sharply to $5.2 million in 2029.

According to Chandra’s operational team, the proposed budget will just cover the costs needed to decommission the telescope, signaling the end of its journey.

Despite it’s time coming to an end, we have gotten some truly amazing images from it. Many of Chandra’s images come from collaborating with the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes were the combined spectrum’s of the telescopes reveal the stunning universe around us.

Check out this article that has all the best photos to come out of this amazing piece of technology!

• Category: Environment