Not listed WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP THIS ARRAY FROM OUR SUCCESSFUL DESIGNS FOR TRANSITION-EDGE SENSOR (TES) MICROCALORIMETER ARRAYS TO VERIFY ITS PERFORMANCE AND TO WORK CLOSELY WITH THE EUROPEAN X-IFU INSTRUMENT TEAM TO INTEGRATE IT INTO A HIGH-FIDELITY DEMONSTRATION MODEL. THE REFERENCE DESIGN FOR THE X-IFU IS BASED ON FREQUENCY-DIVISION MULTIPLEXING (FDM) OF THE SIGNALS FROM THE NEARLY 4000 TES PIXELS OF THE FOCAL-PLANE ARRAY AND THE DEMONSTRATION MODEL WILL INCORPORATE THIS SCHEME. IN ADDITION TO FULLY SUPPORTING THE PRIMARY DEMONSTRATION WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A PARALLEL DEMONSTRATION MODEL USING TIME-DIVISION MULTIPLEXING (TDM). TDM IS MORE ADVANCED THAN FDM SO DEVELOPING IT AS A BACKUP OPTION WILL PROVIDE IMPORTANT RISK REDUCTION FOR THE X-IFU DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE. WE ALSO PROPOSE TO DEVELOP CODE-DIVISION MULTIPLEXING (CDM) WHICH PROMISES BETTER PERFORMANCE WHILE MAKING USE OF MOST OF THE SAME READOUT ARCHITECTURE AS TDM. THE ATHENA/X-IFU WILL BE AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL INSTRUMENT THAT WILL CAPITALIZE ON FOUR DECADES OF TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT TO CREATE AN INSTRUMENT THAT SIMULTANEOUSLY PROVIDES HIGH SPATIAL AND SPECTRAL RESOLUTION. THE INSTRUMENT IS VERY SIMILAR TO THE XMS ENVISIONED FOR THE IXO MISSION WHICH WAS HIGHLY ENDORSED SCIENTIFICALLY IN THE ASTRO 2010 DECADAL SURVEY. FOR THE FIRST TIME ASTROPHYSICISTS WILL HAVE A SPECTRAL RESOLVING POWER OF ~ 2500 OVER THE MOST DIAGNOSTICALLY RICH PART OF THE X-RAY BAND WITH UP TO 5 ARCSEC SPATIAL RESOLUTION. WITH THE VERY HIGH COLLECTING AREA OF 2 M2 AND 2.5 EV ENERGY RESOLUTION PROJECTED FOR THE X-IFU A WIDE RANGE OF CELESTIAL HIGH-ENERGY SOURCES WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR DETAILED ANALYSIS OUT TO A RED SHIFT OF 2. X-IFU WILL BE AN OBSERVATORY INSTRUMENT WITH A VERY HEAVILY SUBSCRIBED GUEST OBSERVER PROGRAM. BY CONTRIBUTING MISSION ENABLING TECHNOLOGY NASA WILL BE IN A STRONG POSITION TO SECURE GUEST INVESTIGATOR TIME FOR US SCIENTISTS. $0 9/22/17 2 WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP THIS ARRAY FROM OUR SUCCESSFUL DESIGNS FOR TRANSITION-EDGE SENSOR (TES) MICROCALORIMETER ARRAYS, TO VERIFY ITS PERFORMANCE, AND TO WORK CLOSELY WITH THE EUROPEAN X-IFU INSTRUMENT TEAM TO INTEGRATE IT INTO A HIGH-FIDELITY DEMONSTRATION MODEL. THE REFERENCE DESIGN FOR THE X-IFU IS BASED ON FREQUENCY-DIVISION MULTIPLEXING (FDM) OF THE SIGNALS FROM THE NEARLY 4000 TES PIXELS OF THE FOCAL-PLANE ARRAY, AND THE DEMONSTRATION MODEL WILL INCORPORATE THIS SCHEME. IN ADDITION TO FULLY SUPPORTING THE PRIMARY DEMONSTRATION, WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A PARALLEL DEMONSTRATION MODEL USING TIME-DIVISION MULTIPLEXING (TDM). TDM IS MORE ADVANCED THAN FDM, SO DEVELOPING IT AS A BACKUP OPTION WILL PROVIDE IMPORTANT RISK REDUCTION FOR THE X-IFU DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE. WE ALSO PROPOSE TO DEVELOP CODE-DIVISION MULTIPLEXING (CDM), WHICH PROMISES BETTER PERFORMANCE WHILE MAKING USE OF MOST OF THE SAME READOUT ARCHITECTURE AS TDM. THE ATHENA/X-IFU WILL BE AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL INSTRUMENT THAT WILL CAPITALIZE ON FOUR DECADES OF TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT TO CREATE AN INSTRUMENT THAT SIMULTANEOUSLY PROVIDES HIGH SPATIAL AND SPECTRAL RESOLUTION. THE INSTRUMENT IS VERY SIMILAR TO THE XMS ENVISIONED FOR THE IXO MISSION, WHICH WAS HIGHLY ENDORSED SCIENTIFICALLY IN THE ASTRO 2010 DECADAL SURVEY. FOR THE FIRST TIME, ASTROPHYSICISTS WILL HAVE A SPECTRAL RESOLVING POWER OF ~ 2500 OVER THE MOST DIAGNOSTICALLY RICH PART OF THE X-RAY BAND WITH UP TO 5 ARCSEC SPATIAL RESOLUTION. WITH THE VERY HIGH COLLECTING AREA OF 2 M2 AND 2.5 EV ENERGY RESOLUTION PROJECTED FOR THE X-IFU, A WIDE RANGE OF CELESTIAL HIGH-ENERGY SOURCES WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR DETAILED ANALYSIS OUT TO A RED SHIFT OF 2. X-IFU WILL BE AN OBSERVATORY INSTRUMENT WITH A VERY HEAVILY SUBSCRIBED GUEST OBSERVER PROGRAM. BY CONTRIBUTING MISSION ENABLING TECHNOLOGY, NASA WILL BE IN A STRONG POSITION TO SECURE GUEST INVESTIGATOR TIME FOR US SCIENTISTS. Other Administrative Action $0 9/22/17 Not listed WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP THIS ARRAY FROM OUR SUCCESSFUL DESIGNS FOR TRANSITION-EDGE SENSOR (TES) MICROCALORIMETER ARRAYS TO VERIFY ITS PERFORMANCE AND TO WORK CLOSELY WITH THE EUROPEAN X-IFU INSTRUMENT TEAM TO INTEGRATE IT INTO A HIGH-FIDELITY DEMONSTRATION MODEL. THE REFERENCE DESIGN FOR THE X-IFU IS BASED ON FREQUENCY-DIVISION MULTIPLEXING (FDM) OF THE SIGNALS FROM THE NEARLY 4000 TES PIXELS OF THE FOCAL-PLANE ARRAY AND THE DEMONSTRATION MODEL WILL INCORPORATE THIS SCHEME. IN ADDITION TO FULLY SUPPORTING THE PRIMARY DEMONSTRATION WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A PARALLEL DEMONSTRATION MODEL USING TIME-DIVISION MULTIPLEXING (TDM). TDM IS MORE ADVANCED THAN FDM SO DEVELOPING IT AS A BACKUP OPTION WILL PROVIDE IMPORTANT RISK REDUCTION FOR THE X-IFU DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE. WE ALSO PROPOSE TO DEVELOP CODE-DIVISION MULTIPLEXING (CDM) WHICH PROMISES BETTER PERFORMANCE WHILE MAKING USE OF MOST OF THE SAME READOUT ARCHITECTURE AS TDM. THE ATHENA/X-IFU WILL BE AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL INSTRUMENT THAT WILL CAPITALIZE ON FOUR DECADES OF TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT TO CREATE AN INSTRUMENT THAT SIMULTANEOUSLY PROVIDES HIGH SPATIAL AND SPECTRAL RESOLUTION. THE INSTRUMENT IS VERY SIMILAR TO THE XMS ENVISIONED FOR THE IXO MISSION WHICH WAS HIGHLY ENDORSED SCIENTIFICALLY IN THE ASTRO 2010 DECADAL SURVEY. FOR THE FIRST TIME ASTROPHYSICISTS WILL HAVE A SPECTRAL RESOLVING POWER OF ~ 2500 OVER THE MOST DIAGNOSTICALLY RICH PART OF THE X-RAY BAND WITH UP TO 5 ARCSEC SPATIAL RESOLUTION. WITH THE VERY HIGH COLLECTING AREA OF 2 M2 AND 2.5 EV ENERGY RESOLUTION PROJECTED FOR THE X-IFU A WIDE RANGE OF CELESTIAL HIGH-ENERGY SOURCES WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR DETAILED ANALYSIS OUT TO A RED SHIFT OF 2. X-IFU WILL BE AN OBSERVATORY INSTRUMENT WITH A VERY HEAVILY SUBSCRIBED GUEST OBSERVER PROGRAM. BY CONTRIBUTING MISSION ENABLING TECHNOLOGY NASA WILL BE IN A STRONG POSITION TO SECURE GUEST INVESTIGATOR TIME FOR US SCIENTISTS. $375.0k 1/27/17 1 WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP THIS ARRAY FROM OUR SUCCESSFUL DESIGNS FOR TRANSITION-EDGE SENSOR (TES) MICROCALORIMETER ARRAYS, TO VERIFY ITS PERFORMANCE, AND TO WORK CLOSELY WITH THE EUROPEAN X-IFU INSTRUMENT TEAM TO INTEGRATE IT INTO A HIGH-FIDELITY DEMONSTRATION MODEL. THE REFERENCE DESIGN FOR THE X-IFU IS BASED ON FREQUENCY-DIVISION MULTIPLEXING (FDM) OF THE SIGNALS FROM THE NEARLY 4000 TES PIXELS OF THE FOCAL-PLANE ARRAY, AND THE DEMONSTRATION MODEL WILL INCORPORATE THIS SCHEME. IN ADDITION TO FULLY SUPPORTING THE PRIMARY DEMONSTRATION, WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A PARALLEL DEMONSTRATION MODEL USING TIME-DIVISION MULTIPLEXING (TDM). TDM IS MORE ADVANCED THAN FDM, SO DEVELOPING IT AS A BACKUP OPTION WILL PROVIDE IMPORTANT RISK REDUCTION FOR THE X-IFU DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE. WE ALSO PROPOSE TO DEVELOP CODE-DIVISION MULTIPLEXING (CDM), WHICH PROMISES BETTER PERFORMANCE WHILE MAKING USE OF MOST OF THE SAME READOUT ARCHITECTURE AS TDM. THE ATHENA/X-IFU WILL BE AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL INSTRUMENT THAT WILL CAPITALIZE ON FOUR DECADES OF TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT TO CREATE AN INSTRUMENT THAT SIMULTANEOUSLY PROVIDES HIGH SPATIAL AND SPECTRAL RESOLUTION. THE INSTRUMENT IS VERY SIMILAR TO THE XMS ENVISIONED FOR THE IXO MISSION, WHICH WAS HIGHLY ENDORSED SCIENTIFICALLY IN THE ASTRO 2010 DECADAL SURVEY. FOR THE FIRST TIME, ASTROPHYSICISTS WILL HAVE A SPECTRAL RESOLVING POWER OF ~ 2500 OVER THE MOST DIAGNOSTICALLY RICH PART OF THE X-RAY BAND WITH UP TO 5 ARCSEC SPATIAL RESOLUTION. WITH THE VERY HIGH COLLECTING AREA OF 2 M2 AND 2.5 EV ENERGY RESOLUTION PROJECTED FOR THE X-IFU, A WIDE RANGE OF CELESTIAL HIGH-ENERGY SOURCES WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR DETAILED ANALYSIS OUT TO A RED SHIFT OF 2. X-IFU WILL BE AN OBSERVATORY INSTRUMENT WITH A VERY HEAVILY SUBSCRIBED GUEST OBSERVER PROGRAM. BY CONTRIBUTING MISSION ENABLING TECHNOLOGY, NASA WILL BE IN A STRONG POSITION TO SECURE GUEST INVESTIGATOR TIME FOR US SCIENTISTS. Funding Only Action $375.0k 1/27/17 Not listed WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP THIS ARRAY FROM OUR SUCCESSFUL DESIGNS FOR TRANSITION-EDGE SENSOR (TES) MICROCALORIMETER ARRAYS, TO VERIFY ITS PERFORMANCE, AND $244.5k 4/27/16