The XMM bus in one piece

 
 

In this photo one has a clear view of the bus in one piece, with the focal plane assembly at the top and the ventilation box right below it, on the front side of the bus.

The two white cones (radiators) belong to the EPIC MOS cameras, which are placed at the primary focal plane of two of XMM's three X-ray telescopes. Next to these, the two grey plates with one corner "chopped off" are the thermal radiators of the RGS spectrometers, located at the secondary focus of the same two X-ray telescopes as the MOS cameras. In between the two RGSes, one can see a black top with a round hole belonging to the EPIC p-n camera, which is the only instrument in the third X-ray telescope.


Photo courtesy of D. de Chambure (XMM Project Team, ESTEC).