, which was launched in
2005, used thin-foil mirrors with epoxy-replicated gold surfaces.
The X-ray telescopes on Suzaku have larger collecting areas and
about two times better angular resolution than the ASCA telescopes.
The mirrors for the missions mentioned above are researched and produced
at Goddard. A number of facilities in Building 2 on campus are involved in
the process. Thin foils are prepared and formed into shape in a
Foil Research and Preparation Clean Room .
The actual coating of gold and foil replication are done in the
Foil Replication Laboratory . Finished
foils are assembled and tested optically in the
Optical Laboratory , where much optical
metrological work for other necessary surfaces are done. Partial or complete
quadrants of the telescopes are tested at X-ray energies at the
X-Ray Facility, which includes a
collimated X-ray beam and an X-ray reflectometer.
The X-ray mirror group is headed by Peter J. Serlemitsos. Research
Scientists currently include Yang Soong, Kai W. Chan and
Takashi Okajima. Most of
the actual mirror production are completed by a team of engineers and
technicians. Besides this core team of staff,
we got much support from other technical staffs from the X-ray Astrophysics
Laboratory.