ESA Open Invitation to Tender: 1-10915
Open Date: 21/07/2021 14:13 CEST
Closing Date: 15/09/2021 13:00 CEST

The Advanced Telescope for High-Energy Astrophysics (ATHENA) is an X-ray Observatory mission currently under study by ESA as the second L-class mission of ESA’s Cosmic Vision Programme. It is currently in Phase B1, and is expected to undergo a Mission Adoption Review (MAR) in 2022 in preparation for Mission Adoption in November 2022.ATHENA will comprise a large effective area X-ray telescope based on Silicon Pore Optics in Wolter configuration, a Wide Field Imager (WFI) based on a DEPFET active pixel matrix for wide field of view observations, and an X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) based on Transition Edge Sensors (TES) for very high resolution spectroscopic imaging. For both ATHENA instruments, many science cases rely on a high accuracy of the Absolute Knowledge Error (AKE) of the Non-Xray Background. This cannot reliably be achieved to the required accuracy based on observations using the main ATHENA instruments e.g. with closed shutter due to statistical and systematic uncertainties. However, studies of the NXB in other X-ray missions show a strong correlation between the NXB and the flux of high-energy Cosmic Ray (CR) particles, as measured e.g. in the NXB correlation between XMM EPIC and SOHO EPHIN fluxes. Therefore, the ATHENA scientific community has requested the inclusion of an ATHENA High Energy Particle Monitor (AHEPaM).

Directorate: Directorate of Science
Estabilishment: ESTEC
ECOS Required: No
Classified: No
Price Range: 200-500 KEURO
Authorised Contact Person: Pauline Maud Bastie
Initiating Service: SCI-F
IP Measure: N/A
Prog. Reference: E/0401-01B – CTP – General
Tender Type: Open Competition
Open To Tenderers From: AT+BE+CH+CZ+DE+DK+EE+EL+ES+FI+FR+GB+HU+IE+IT+LU+NL+NO+PL+PT+RO+SE
Technology Keywords: 4-A-II-Inflight Monitoring
Products Keywords: 2-I-1-e-Other (Scatterometers,…)