During the last week Chandra completed the observing schedule as planned.

Real-time procedures were executed on Feb 12 and 14 to monitor thruster performance during scheduled angular momentum unloads. The enhanced monitoring is in response to a recent downward trend in the specific impulse on MUPS thruster A1. This trend remains under investigation to determine whether it is simply an indication of normal thruster degradation, unanticipated behavior in an elevated thermal environment, or an early warning flag of a more serious condition.

A Chandra press release was issued on Feb 13 as a NASA press release describing observations of W49B, a highly distorted supernova remnant, produced by a rare type of explosion. There is evidence that W49B left behind a black hole - not a neutron star like most other supernovas. If confirmed, W49B would be the most recent black hole formed in our Galaxy. For details see: http://chandra.si.edu/press/13_releases/press_021313.html