The reflection grating spectrometer (RGS) on-board the x-ray multi-mirror (XMM) mission incorporates an array of reflection gratings oriented at grazing incidence in the x- ray optical path immediately behind a grazing incidence telescope. Dispersed light is imaged on a strip of CCD- detectors slightly offset from the telescope focal plane. The grating array picks off roughly half the light emanating from the telescope; the other half passes undeflected through the array where it is imaged by the European photon imaging camera (EPIC) experiment. XMM carries two such identical units, plus a third telescope with an EPIC detector, but no RGS. The basic elements of the RGA include: 202 identical reflection gratings, a set of precision rails with bosses that determine the position and alignment of each grating, a monolithic beryllium integrating structure on which the rails are mounted, and a set of three, kinematic support mounts which fix the array to the telescope. In this paper, we review our progress on the fabrication and testing of the RGA hardware, with particular attention to the components comprising the engineering qualification model, a flight-representative prototype which will be completely assembled in September of this year.

Date Published: 31 October 1996
PDF: 13 pages
Proc. SPIE 2808, EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy VII, (31 October 1996); doi: 10.1117/12.256008

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2808:
EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy VII
Oswald H. W. Siegmund; Mark A. Gummin, Editor(s)