The Extreme Physics Explorer and large area micro-channel plate optics

The Extreme Physics Explorer (EPE) is a concept timing/spectroscopy mission that would use micro-channel plate optics (MCPO) to provide 4m 2 effective area focused to ~1 arc-min onto an X-ray calorimeter. We describe science drivers for such a mission, possible designs for the large area MCPO needed for EPE, and the challenges of the large area MCPO design.