1. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
NASA's premier X-ray observatory was named the Chandra X-ray Observatory in honor of the late Indian-American Nobel laureate, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. (Photo: AIP)

2. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
The Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility was renamed the Chandra X-ray Observatory in December of 1998 to honor the late Indian-American Nobel laureate, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. (Photo: Univ. of Chicago)

3. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
AXAF was renamed the Chandra X-ray Observatory in honor of the late Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. The Chandra X-ray Observatory will help astronomers better understand the structure and evolution of the universe by studying powerful sources of X-rays. (Photo: AIP)

4. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
AXAF was renamed the Chandra X-ray Observatory in honor of the late Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. Tyrel Johnson, a student from Idaho, and Jatila van der Veen, a physics and astronomy teacher from California, submitted the winning name and essays. (Photo: AIP)

5. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
AXAF was renamed the Chandra X-ray Observatory in honor of the late Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. The telescope was launched July 23, 1999 aboard Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-93. (Photo: Univ. of Chicago)

6. Mrs. Chandrasekhar & Contest Winners
Mrs. Lalitha Chandrasekhar (left), wife of the late Indian-American Nobel Laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, poses with a model of the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the winners of the contest to rename the telescope in the TRW (now NGST) Media Hospitality Tent at the NASA Press Site at KSC. The winners of the contest are Jatila van der Veen (center), academic coordinator and lecturer, Physics Dept., University of California, at Santa Barbara, and Tyrel Johnson (right), high school student, Laclede, Idaho. (Photo: NASA)

7. Mrs. Chandrasekhar
Mrs. Lalitha Chandrasekhar, wife of the late Indian-American Nobel Laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, poses with a model of the Chandra X-ray Observatory in the TRW (now NGST) Media Hospitality Tent at the NASA Press Site at KSC. The name "Chandra," a shortened version of Chandrasekhar's name which he preferred among friends and colleagues, was chosen to honor the Nobel Laureate. "Chandra" also means "Moon" or "luminous" in Sanskrit. (Photo: NASA)

8. Group Photo
Fred Whipple, Chandra, Gerard Kuiper, Gerald Mulders

9. Giacconi Awarded 2003 National Medal of Science
Riccardo Giacconi was awarded the 2003 National Medal of Science by President George W. Bush in a White House ceremony on March 14, 2005 shown here. This award, in part for his pioneering work in X-ray astronomy, is the United States' top scientific recognition. Dr. Giacconi was also a co-recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize in physics for his contributions to X-ray astronomy. (Photo: Ed Baize)

10. Dr. Belinda Wilkes
Dr. Wilkes received her B. Sc. (Hons.) from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and her Ph. D. from Cambridge University, England. Before coming to SAO she held a NATO Post-doctoral Fellowship at Steward Observatory, University of Arizona. She is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and the Cambridge Philosophical Society, and a member of the American Astronomical Society and the International Astronomical Union. She has received several NASA Group Achievement awards, the NASA MSFC Director's Commendation, and many Smithsonian Institution awards including the Exceptional Accomplishment Award. (Photo: CFA)