The High Resolution Microcalorimeter Soft X-ray Spectrometer for the Astro-H Mission

We are developing the Soft X-Ray Spectrometer (SXS) for the JAXA Astro-H mission. The instrument is based on a 36-pixel array of semiconductor micro calorimeters that provides high spectral resolution over the 0.3-12 keV energy band at the focus of a high throughput, grazing-incidence x-ray mirror, giving a 3 x 3 arcmin field of view and more than 200 cm₂ of collecting area at 6 keV. The instrument is a collaboration between the JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science and their partners in Japan, the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, the University of Wisconsin, the Space Research Organization of the Netherlands, and Geneva University. The principal components of the spectrometer are the microcalorimeter detector system, low-temperature anticoincidence detector, 3-stage ADR and dewar. The dewar is a long-life, hybrid design with a superfluid helium cryostat, Joule-Thomson cooler, and Stirling coolers. The instrument is capable of achieving 4-5 eV resolution across the array and is designed to operate for at least three years in orbit, and can operate either without liquid helium or the cooling power of the Joule-Thomson cooler. In this presentation we describe the design and status of the Astro-H/SXS instrument.