High-energy astronomy from the International Space Station

The European Space Agency, ESA, is currently studying 3 high-energy astrono my missions that use the International Space Station (ISS). These are Lobst er-ISS, an all-sky imaging X-ray monitor, the Extreme Universe Space Observ atory (EUSO) which will study the highest energy cosmic rays by using the E arth's atmosphere as a giant detector and XEUS - the X-ray Evolving Univers e Spectroscopy Mission, a potential successor to ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray obs ervatory. These first 2 missions will he attached to the external platforms on the Columbus module, while XEUS will visit the ISS to attach additional X-ray mirrors to enlarge the original 4.5 m diameter mirrors to the 10 m d iameter required to observed redshifted iron lines from massive black holes in the early Universe.