Athena formally selected by ESA

ESA has selected the Athena advanced telescope for high-energy astrophysics as its second ‘Large-class’ science mission. See the ESA press release

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Technical status of X-IFU prior to mission adoption

The SPIE meeting 2026 was the opportunity to present X-IFU as it stands today, as we move towards the start of the mission adoption process, to be concluded in June 2027. The overview presentation given by Philippe Peille (CNES, Instrument manager) showed the status of X-IFU, and presented all the demonstration activities that are on-going. […]

Understanding TES Performance in Modified Bias Circuits for X-IFU Multiplexed Readout

A recent paper by Smith et al., « Transition-edge sensor characteristics in a modified bias circuit for multiplexed readout, »has been accepted for publication in the IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity. The work addresses an important aspect of X-IFU detector readout: the impact of incorporating a bypass resistor into the bias circuit used for time-division multiplexing (TDM). […]

Successful coupling of the X-IFU Warm Front-End Electronics demonstrator at SRON

A major milestone has been reached beginning of October 2025 in the development of the Warm Front-End Electronics (WFEE) for the ATHENA X-IFU detection chain with the successful coupling of WFEE demonstrator model 2 (DM2) during the Focal Plane Assembly (FPA) DM1.1 test campaign at SRON (Space Research Organisation Netherlands). The WFEE, developed by APC […]

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