Development of Constellation-X optics technologies at MSFC

Stephen L. O'Dell; William D. Jones; Brian D. Ramsey; Darell E. Engelhaupt; W. Scott Smith; Lester M. Cohen; Leon P. Van Speybroeck

doi:10.1117/12.391568

18 July 2000 Development of Constellation-X optics technologies at MSFC

Stephen L. O'Dell, William D. Jones, Brian D. Ramsey, Darell E. Engelhaupt, W. Scott Smith, Lester M. Cohen, Leon P. Van Speybroeck

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 4012, X-Ray Optics, Instruments, and Missions III; (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.391568
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 2000, Munich, Germany

Abstract

The Constellation X-ray Mission is the next major x-ray- astronomy mission in the NASA Space Science road map. As a follow-on to the Chandra X-ray Observatory--nee, the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility--Constellation X will provide high-throughput, high-resolution spectroscopy to probe the gravitational field, kinematics, temperature, density, composition and ionization state of cosmic sources. The Constellation-X observatory system comprises four separate satellites, each with one large Spectroscopy X-ray Telescope (SXT, with a pixelated microcalorimeter and a reflection-grating-CCD spectrometer) and three smaller Hard X-ray Telescopes (HXTs, with pixelated hard-x-ray detectors). Essential to the success of Constellation X is the development of large (1.6-m-diameter), lightweight optics for the SXT mirror assembly. With the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, teams led by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and by Italy's Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera are currently developing competing mirror techniques for lightweight SXT optics, toward achieving the required system-level half-power diameter--better than 15 arcsec.

Citation Download Citation

Stephen L. O'Dell, William D. Jones, Brian D. Ramsey, Darell E. Engelhaupt, W. Scott Smith, Lester M. Cohen, and Leon P. Van Speybroeck "Development of Constellation-X optics technologies at MSFC", Proc. SPIE 4012, X-Ray Optics, Instruments, and Missions III, (18 July 2000); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.391568

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