[FPSPACE] incredible compliment to US engineers

[Keith Gottschalk]

extract from NASA press RELEASE: 04-274

"DEEPEST IMAGE OF EXPLODED STAR UNCOVERS BIPOLAR JETS

    "A spectacular new image of Cassiopeia A released today 
from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has nearly 200 times 
more data than the "First Light" Chandra image of this object 
made five years ago. [.....snip.....]The 1 million-second (about 11.5-day) observation of 
Cassiopeia A uncovered two large, opposed jet-like structures"

   It today is so accepted as so routine that it passes without comment in the above press release that a robotic, orbiting X-ray telescope (Chandra) can have gyroscopes & inertial sensors so incedibly accurate that it can point steadily in the same direction for 11 days without wobbling by even a quarter wavelength. 

    Much the same achievement was earlier done by the Hubble telescope,with also around a ten day exposure. True, digitalization of images mean the image processing can omit wobbles that would have blurred the snap back in the days of the Mount Palomar-National Geographic Sky Survey.

   Nevertheless, I think that such steadiness of pointing over eleven days is an incedible achievement of US engineers & their machines. It deserves more celebration and praise than it is getting. - Keith