An AOCS concept for the X-ray Interferometer mission

Space Telescopes and Instrumentation: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, pp. 153

Abstract

An x-ray interferometer (XRI) has recently been proposed as a theme for ESA's voyage 2050 planning cycle, with the prospect to observe the x-ray sky with unprecedented angular resolution. A scientifically very interesting mission is possible on the basis of a single spacecraft with a resolving power of 100 micro arcsec (~0.5 nrad), owing to the compact 'telephoto' design proposed in 2004 by Willingale. One of the key challenges for such a mission is to acquire and maintain pointing to an absolute accuracy below that resolution. This challenge was already identified by Gendreau et al. in 2003. In this paper we re-address this issue in the light of recent technological developments.

Authors 5

1. Roland H. den Hartog Aachen SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research

   Space Research Organisation Netherlands

   Affiliation as printed

   SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research (Netherlands)

2. Phil Uttley

   University of Amsterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Univ. of Amsterdam (Netherlands)

3. Henk F. C. Hoevers Aachen SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research

   Space Research Organisation Netherlands

   Affiliation as printed

   SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research (Netherlands)

4. Jan-Willem den Herder Aachen SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research

   Space Research Organisation Netherlands · University of Amsterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research (Netherlands)

   Univ. of Amsterdam (Netherlands)

5. Michael W. Wise Aachen SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research

   Space Research Organisation Netherlands · University of Amsterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research (Netherlands)

   Univ. of Amsterdam (Netherlands)