The DXL Mission and X-ray Astronomy on a Sounding Rocket

The DXL (Diffuse X-rays from the Local Galaxy) mission is a sounding rocket payload used to study the properties of the soft X-ray background by observing its spatial signatures with a wide field-of-view telescope. Sounding rockets, such as the one that DXL flew on, have been employed for over 70 years to extend our knowledge of astrophysical phenomena by providing instruments access to space. DXL has had four flights between 2012 to 2021 and successfully determined the composition of the diffuse, soft X-ray, sky.