XMM-Newton in a Nutshell

X-Ray Satellite Mission XMM-Newton

The High Throughput X-ray Spectroscopy Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM) is the second of four cornerstone projects in the ESA long-term programme HORIZON 2000 for space science. The satellite observatory, launched on December 10, 1999, with an Ariane 5 will make possible a major advance in the field of X-ray astrophysics. The primary scientific objective of XMM is to perform high throughput spectroscopy of cosmic X-ray sources over a broad band of energies ranging from 0.1 keV to 10 keV. The XMM spacecraft payload includes three highly-nested grazing-incidence mirror modules of type Wolter I coupled to reflection grating spectrometers and X-ray charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras with resolving powers ranging from 10 up to 1000 as well as one small optical/UV telescope. The picture shows an artist's view of the satellite, 3.8 tonnes in weight and about 10 m in length, with solar cell panels pulled out. The entrance openings of the three telescopes can be seen at the right edge of the picture. The MPE has a main contribution on this mission (telescope development/test, EPIC-pn camera, and survey science center). XMM was relabeled to XMM-Newton at the press conference XMM First Light in Villafranca/Spain on February 9, 2000.