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