XMM-Newton, ESAs X-ray observatory, the Loss of Contact Rescue and Mission Operations ready for the next decade

摘要

ESAs XMM-Newton space observatory is the flagship of European X-ray astronomy. After launch from Kourou, French Guiana on 10 December 1999, it is the most powerful X-ray telescope ever placed in orbit. The mission is solving many cosmic mysteries of the hot X-ray universe observing objects like neutron stars, black holes or active galaxies. The mission was originally designed for a 10 years lifetime, however since the performance of spacecraft and instruments continues to be excellent and without any major degradation it is planned to operate the observatory long into the next decade, our only limitation being the hydrazine resources. In 2008 due to an antennae switch problem contact to the satellite was lost. After a major recovery XMM-Newton is now back online to serve the X-ray community with unaffected efficiency. We will describe the health status of spacecraft and instruments in combination with the 2008 recovery and some lessons learned during 10 years of operations which lead to the operations strategies to operate XMM long into the next decade and well beyond its original design life.