We convened a focused two-week Instrument Design Lab (IDL), including some 70 participants from the CfA, Harvard, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Goddard Space Flight Center, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, and other partner institutions.

The IDL was designed to accelerate scientific studies related to BHEX, assess mission viability, develop a point design for a mid-scale mission, and create an instrument architecture basis for an upcoming mission design study. This event was highly successful in both building a strong team and in rapidly incubating a mission concept.