The Space Shuttle Mission 2007 gets today the famous Chandra X-Ray Observatory, STS-93 Mission as a free add-on. With the launch of STS-93, Col. Eileen Collins became the first woman to command a Space Shuttle mission.
STS-93 started with an eventful Columbia night launch on July 22, 1999. Five seconds into the launch, multiple Main Engines failures raised the alarm but later on, as the backup systems took control, the Shuttle reached orbit safely, ready to begin the primary mission highlight: the deployment of Chandra X-Ray Space Observatory the heaviest payload ever put on orbit by the Shuttle program at the time.
At its launch, the Chandra was the most sophisticated X-Ray Telescope ever built and it complements Hubble Space Telescope data with an impressive ability and resolution to study quasars as they were over 10 Billion years ago and observe X-rays from clouds of gas five-million light-years wide.
During the mission, the Astronauts performed additional experiments and tested the fly-cast maneuver that will be executed during STS-99 to alleviate tensions on the huge SRTM radar boom due to orbital corrections.
STS-93 concluded with a safe night landing at the Kennedy Space Center on July 27, 1999.
In the best SSM2007 tradition, the STS-93 free add-on will allow budding Virtual Astronauts to experience the launch (including the Main Engine failures), on-orbit mission including the deployment of the special Chandra X-Ray Observatory and performing the fly-cast test maneuver, and return to Earth by manually landing the Endeavour at the Kennedy Space Center.
The Space Shuttle Mission 2007™ is available online in downloadable format at the SSM2007 official web site: www.space-shuttle-mission.com
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