XMM Flight Model acoustic testing

The XMM Flight Model after completion of acoustic testing in the Large European Acoustic Facility (LEAF) in ESTEC's Test Centre. ESA's X-ray Multi-Mirror (XMM) high-throughput X-ray spectroscopy mission will be launched by Ariane-5 in December 1999. By virtue of its large collecting area and highly eccentric orbit, the 3.9-tonne XMM will make long observations of soft X-ray (100 eV to 12 keV) sources with unprecedented sensitivity. Most of the 50-200 sources in every image will be revealed for the first time. Whereas the German/US/UK Rosat mission, launched in 1990, pushed the number of known X-ray sources to 120 000, XMM will see millions. [Image Date: 07-07-99] [99.07.004-003]