36.283 UH Black Brant IX was launched from White Sands Missile Range, NM on December 13, 2012. The objectives of the Diffuse X-ray Emission from the Local Galaxy (DXL) experiment were to:obtain geometric measurements of the heliospheric Solar Wind Charge Exchange (SWCX) using an existing, large collecting area (1000 cm2 at 1 keV) suborbital instrument, differentiate the foreground SWCX emission from the background LHB emission separately in the ¼ keV and ¾ keV bands, and to obtain geometric information for input to the heliospheric SWCX models that are necessary for interpreting astrophysical observations using large observatories.

The mission also provided a flight opportunity for the prototype DXL/STORM instrument, a wide field of view soft X-ray camera using newly-developed micropore reflector technology. This flight was the first time this technology was used to image solar wind interaction with the terrestrial magnetosphere.

For more information on the DXL, go to:
http://www.physics.miami.edu/~galeazzi/x-rays/dxl.html