Abstract:
The Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched over 20 years ago, but the development of its instruments began more than 20 years before that. This talk will describe the little-known saga of the High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer (HETGS) on Chandra, including technical challenges, political wrangling, Congressional hurdles and near-death experiences. Spoiler-alert: It all came out well in the end.