Chandra Donelson will step down from her role on April 3, 2026.
Chandra Donelson is the first permanent Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer for the United States Space Force.
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, and Hubble Space Telescope were used to find GRB 230906A.
Brendan O'Connor of Carnegie Mellon University said that Chandra's precise X-ray localization made the study possible.
Chandra, Swift, and Hubble were used to refine the position of GRB 230906A after Fermi provided a preliminary location.
The Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama manages the Chandra program for NASA.
The Chandra X-ray Center at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory controls Chandra's scientific operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts and its flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
Hubble revealed the tiny, extremely faint galaxy at the GRB 230906A location after Chandra identified the target area.
The NASA Authorization Act of 2026 protects funding for flagship science missions including the James Webb Space Telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
The 2026-27 Union Budget targets expansion of India’s astrophysics scientific base by upgrading or establishing the National Large Solar Telescope, the National Large Optical-Infrared Telescope, the Himalayan Chandra Telescope, and the COSMOS 2 Planetarium.
The budget proposal terminates the Chandra X-Ray Observatory with its funding zeroed out.
NASA proposed budget cuts for Hubble and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory in its fiscal year 2025 budget request.
The members of Congress sought to convince NASA to defer any decisions on Chandra’s budget until after completion of the 2025 appropriations bills.
When NASA announced the proposed budget cuts in March, the agency argued that thermal control problems reduced Chandra’s effectiveness.
NASA delayed a decision on proposed cuts to Chandra and smaller cuts to the Hubble Space Telescope until after Congress completes its fiscal year 2025 appropriations bills.
NASA proposed a 40% cut to Chandra’s budget for fiscal year 2025 in the agency’s budget proposal released in March 2024.
NASA is providing funding to Chandra to avoid layoffs at the Chandra X-ray Center through the 2025 fiscal year.
The OPCR concluded that it would not be possible to operate the Chandra X-Ray Observatory at a funding level of $41,100,000.
NASA has deferred plans to reduce operations of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope until after the agency receives its final appropriations for fiscal year 2025.
NASA’s fiscal year 2025 budget proposal released in March proposed a 40% cut in Chandra’s operating budget to $41,100,000 and an approximately 10% cut in Hubble’s budget to $88,900,000.