Design of novel x-ray optical system for rocket experiment

A novel design of X-ray optical system - concentrator for astrophysical rocket experiment is investigated. The proposed system is based on four modules with Kirkpatrick-Baez (KB) configuration allowing usage of multi-foil mirrors arranged to parabolic profile. The KB modules are supplemented by rotationally symmetrical parabolic segments. This X-ray optical system effectively uses a circular aperture. The KB modules are placed in four quadrants while the segments are set into a Cartesian cross between the KB modules. Studied optical system is under consideration for the student rocket experiment of University of Colorado that should verify function of NIST’s energy-dispersive detector based on Transition Edge Sensors (TES microcalorimeters).