But many astronomers can't fathom pulling the plug on Chandra, a one-of-a-kind instrument that's currently being used in tandem with the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope ...

However, NASA's current plans call for retiring this unique astronomical instrument ... so only space telescopes are viable. Scientists backing Chandra also note that the observatory is still ...

It was 25 years ago today that the bus-sized instrument went up in one of ... to set priorities for astronomy. That future telescope and Chandra were hot topics at a meeting held today.

Chandra is still functioning well, and scientists expect the instrument to soldier on for at least another decade. Eventually, perhaps a century from now, the worn-out telescope will likely slip ...

The crew, including STS-93 Commander Eileen Collins, deployed the telescope into its oval-shaped orbit, which takes Chandra on a path around Earth that is nearly one-third of the distance to the moon.

The breathtaking images, taken by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, were released Tuesday in honor of the 25th anniversary of the telescope's launch into space. Taken with data collected by Chandra ...