XMM-X-ray multimirror mission

The X-ray multimirror mission is the second cornerstone of the Horizon 2000 programme. The aim of the mission is to carry out high throughput X-ray spectroscopy of celestial objects in the energy range 0.1 to 10 keV. Three telescopes each contain a nest of grazing incidence mirrors focussing X-rays onto a CCD camera. Two of the telescopes also contain a reflection grating spectrometer each with a further, dedicated CCD camera. A 30 cm optical telescope is mounted parallel to the X-ray telescopes to monitor the X-ray sources in the visible and UV bands. The chief areas of technology development are in the X-ray mirror fabrication, the CCD detectors for the cameras and the intensifier tubes for the optical telescope. Currently in a technology development and science definition phase, XMM is due for launch in 1998