Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci. 2002 Sep 15;360(1798):1905-21. doi: 10.1098/rsta.2002.1044.
Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
Ken Pounds
PMID: 12804236 DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2002.1044
X-ray astronomy has evolved from a chance beginning 40 years ago to become a major branch of observational astronomy, underpinning a revolution in high-energy astrophysics. The intervening development can be seen in three phases, starting in the 1960s with a decade of pioneering exploration with sounding rockets, and consolidated by further discoveries with a series of dedicated small satellites, led by Uhuru, building up to NASA's HEAO-1 and Einstein Observatory missions in 1978-1981. The remaining years of the last century saw X-ray astronomy become a broad international effort with strong contributions from Europe and Japan balancing a temporary loss of momentum in the NASA programme. A brief account of those early years in X-ray astronomy is given, from a personal (UK) perspective, as an introduction to the review of the current status of the discipline, which was the subject of the Discussion Meeting.
