"FOXSI-4 & FOXSI-5: Direct-Focusing X-ray Imaging Spectroscopy at the Heart of NASA's First Sounding-Rocket Flare Campaigns"

This presentation provides an overview of the FOXSI-4 and FOXSI-5 sounding rocket missions, the first direct-focusing X-ray imaging spectroscopy experiments at the heart of NASA’s coordinated flare campaigns. It introduces the Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI) payload, its legacy, and the new technological developments enabling unprecedented soft and hard X-ray observations of solar flares. The slides describe the experiment payload and its components, including Wolter-I X-ray mirrors, new high-resolution optics from MSFC and Nagoya University, 3D-printed titanium collimators, optical blocking filters, pixelated attenuators, CdTe strip and Timepix detectors, CMOS cameras, and the solar aspect and alignment system. Results from calibration campaigns and early flight data are shown, along with the current status of payload integration and the upcoming FOXSI-5 flight schedule.