The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) recently launched its latest solar physics satellite, dubbed “Solar-B,” with Goodrich Corporation’s (NYSE: GR) Solar X- ray Telescope (XRT) mirror on board. The satellite’s three-year mission is to explore the magnetic fields of the sun, resulting in an improved understanding of the mechanisms that power the solar atmosphere and drive solar eruptions.
“Goodrich is proud to have played an important role in providing advanced X-Ray mirror technologies in support of this valuable mission,” said Ken Luczaj, President of Goodrich’s Optical and Space Systems division. “Our experience in the design and production of difficult optical forms has recently been proven out on such systems as the GOES 13 X-ray telescope and the Chandra X-ray telescope. We are confident that the Solar-B X-ray Telescope will meet all expectations of the scientific community,” he continued.
Once operational, Solar-B XRT will be the highest resolution Grazing- Incidence X-ray telescope ever flown for solar coronal studies. The telescope has been designed specifically to observe both the high and low temperature coronal plasma. In support of this effort, Goodrich designed and manufactured the precise mirror optics as part of the Smithsonian Astrophysics Observatory (SAO) team, which then supplied the completed instrument to NASA. The XRT’s highly polished mirror provides excellent imaging performance and low scattering from bright flaring regions of the sun, yielding significantly improved imaging performance over the previous missions. The satellite has been launched into a low earth, sun-synchronous orbit, offering near continuous viewing of the sun.
Goodrich’s Electro-Optical Systems team, headquartered in Danbury, Conn., has a long history in the design and fabrication of highly complex x-ray telescope systems including the first space-based imaging x-ray telescope for the Einstein (HEAO-2) observatory, the mirrors for the world’s highest resolution space-based, X-ray telescope, the Chandra X-ray observatory, and the Solar X-ray Imager (SXI) on-board recently launched GOES-13 spacecraft.
Goodrich Corporation, a Fortune 500 company, is a global supplier of systems and services to aerospace, defense and homeland security markets. With one of the most strategically diversified portfolios of products in the industry, Goodrich serves a global customer base with significant worldwide manufacturing and service facilities. For more information visit http://www.goodrich.com.
