Q&A: Chandra Mission

Q:
Why did NASA call it the "Chandra X-ray Observatory" and not the "Chandra X-ray Telescope"?

A:
Chandra is certainly an X-ray telescope, but the official name, Chandra X-ray Observatory, was selected by an independent panel in a contest that attracted over 6,000 entries and was approved by NASA before launch. For more information on naming Chandra, see: http://chandra.harvard.edu/about/chandra.html.