Paul Reid (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
We discuss the development of x-ray optics for astronomy. Some of the technical problems, solutions, and lessons learned in fabricating the optics for the Einstein and Chandra Observatories are recounted. We also review new ideas aimed at developing x-ray telescopes with imaging resolution (and effective area) orders of magnitude better (and larger) than Chandra.
Richard Kelley (NASA/GSFC), Kazuhisa Mitsuda (ISAS/JAXA)
The Japan/US Suzaku (formerly Astro-E2) astrophysics mission has been successfully launched. Sensitive x-ray spectrometers have been designed to enable precise measurements of high-energy processes in stars, supernova remnants, galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and the environments around neutron stars and black holes. We will describe the current capabilities of Suzaku and present some of the early data from a number of celestial targets to illustrate the actual capabilities of the Observatory.