A Facility for Soft Proton Irradiation and Instrument Testing for Future Space Missions

Orbital soft protons (from tens of keV to a few MeV) can seriously degrade the performance of astronomical X-ray detectors. An irradiation setup for large detectors as well as passive satellite components has been constructed at the accelerator facility of the University of Tubingen. The experimental setup and recent applications are briefly described. Simulations and measurements of an improved aperture design are presented in detail. Modifications of the irradiation setup to enable measurements of the small angle scattering efficiency of Wolter-type X-ray mirror shells are underway. Details of the implementation and the current status are given.