NASA operates the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Chandra is a space-based X-ray telescope launched on July 23, 1999, aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. It is one of NASA’s Great Observatories, alongside the Hubble Space Telescope and the Spitzer Space Telescope. Because Earth’s atmosphere absorbs X-rays, Chandra must observe from orbit rather than from the ground.
The observatory studies some of the universe’s most energetic environments, including supernova remnants, galaxy clusters, neutron stars, active galaxies, and material falling toward black holes. Its high-resolution X-ray vision can reveal hot gas and violent processes that are invisible in ordinary optical images.
NASA manages the mission through the Marshall Space Flight Center. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory operates the Chandra X-ray Center and handles day-to-day flight operations and science activities. That partnership can create confusion, but it does not change the quiz answer: NASA is the agency responsible for the observatory.
Chandra was originally called the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility, or AXAF. It was renamed for Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, the Indian-American physicist whose work helped explain the limits and evolution of stars.