Environmental testing of the ATHENA mirror modules

The European Space Agency (ESA) is studying the ATHENA (Advanced Telescope for High ENergy Astrophysics) Xray telescope, the second L-class mission in their Science Program with a launch slot in 2028/30. The baseline technology for the X-ray optics is the newly developed high-performance, light-weight and modular Silicon Pore Optics (SPO). As part of the technology preparation, ruggedisation and environmental testing studies are being conducted to ensure mechanical stability and optical performance of the optics during and after launch, respectively. At cosine, a facility with shock, vibration, tensile strength, long time storage and thermal testing equipment has been set up to test SPO mirror module components for compliance with an Ariane launch vehicle and the mission requirements. In this paper, we report on the progress of our ongoing investigations regarding tests on mechanical and thermal stability of mirror module components like single SPO stacks with and without multilayer coatings and complete mirror modules of inner (R = 250 mm), middle (R = 737 mm) and outer (R = 1500 mm) radii.