The compositions of diverse planetary bodies are of fundamental interest to planetary science, providing clues to the\nformation and evolutionary history of the target bodies and the solar system as a whole. Utilizing the X-ray fluorescence\nunique to each atomic element, X-ray imaging spectroscopy is a powerful diagnostic tool of the chemical and\nmineralogical compositions of diverse planetary bodies. Until now the mass and volume of focusing X-ray optics\nhave been too large for resource-limited in situ missions, so near-target X-ray observations of planetary bodies have\nbeen limited to simple collimator-type X-ray instruments. We introduce a new Miniature lightweight Wolter-I focusing\nX-ray Optics (MiXO) using metal-ceramic hybrid X-ray mirrors based on electroformed nickel replication and\nplasma thermal spray processes. MiXO can enable compact, powerful imaging X-ray telescopes suitable for future\nplanetary missions. We illustrate the need for focusing X-ray optics in observing relatively small planetary bodies such\nas asteroids and comet nuclei. We present a few example configurations of MiXO telescopes and demonstrate their\nsuperior performance in comparison to an alternative approach, micro-pore optics, which is being employed for the\nfirst planetary focusing X-ray telescope, the Mercury Imaging X-ray Spectrometer-T on board Bepicolumbo. X-ray imaging\nspectroscopy using MiXO will open a large new discovery space in planetary science and will greatly enhance our\nunderstanding of the nature and origin of diverse planetary bodies.
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