Year Inducted: 1998
Th
he X-Ray Cali- bration Facility (XRCF) at
the
Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Hunts- ville, Alabama is recog- nized throughout the sci- entific community as the world’s premier facility for testing and calibrat- ing x-ray optics.
The present XRCF evolved from a 1970’s
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by construction person- nel, test engineers, and scientists. During the second phase (1992- 1994), an optical quality clean room and addi- tional vacuum pumps were added to bring the facility to the configura- tion required for the AXAF flight mirrors and detectors. Facility testing and crew training fol- lowed, and additional x-ray generators were installed to provide the x-ray input to the telescope. The XRCF was declared operation- ally ready on November 1, 1996, thirty days prior to arrival of the AXAF mirrors.
MSFC X-Ray Calibration Facility The World’s Premier Facility for Testing and Calibrating X-Ray Optics
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facility that was used for pre-launch testing and calibration of the precision optical system of the High Energy Astrophysics Ob- servatory – the “Einstein” observatory the largest x-ray telescope of its time. The original facility was enlarged and upgraded in recent years to its present configuration to accommodate the larger and more powerful Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF). The AXAF has a resolving power 10 times greater than any previous telescope, and when launched in late 1998, will play a vital role in answering fundamental ques- tions about the age and size of the universe.
The XRCF was constructed in two phases. The first phase (1989-1991) provided a basic capability to evaluate AXAF quality optics. Because x-ray mirrors of the size and preci- sion required for AXAF had never before been fabricated and polished, a single pair of mirrors was produced and tested in the XRCF to assure that requirements for the telescope could be met. A milestone was established in 1991 to verify the resolving power of the mirrors, and the AXAF program was contin- ued, since the mirrors exceeded specifications. Work to complete the XRCF in time to accom- plish this calibration required intense effort
During the calibration in late 1996 and 1997, hundreds of engineers and scientists from industry and academia visited the facil- ity to prepare and operate equipment and analyze x-ray calibration data. A facility crew of 64 engineers and technicians operated the XRCF flawlessly around the clock for six months to provide such an enormous amount of data that it will take over a year to com- plete the detailed analysis. Basic analysis has indicated the AXAF mirrors are exceptional, and work is continuing to prepare the tele- scope for launch. Having completed its de- signed role in calibrating AXAF, the XRCF will continue to be utilized in the years to come for both x-ray calibration and thermal vacuum testing of critical space hardware.
The uniqueness of the XRCF provides unparalleled capabilities and a quality of re- search that is among the best in the world, earning it the recognition of the international science community and the distinction of be- ing, truly, a world-class facility.
