THE RECENTLY SELECTED ESA-CAS SOLAR WIND MAGNETOSPHERE IONOSPHERE LINK EXPLORER (SMILE) MISSION IS A UNIQUE INTERNATIONAL PATHFINDING MISSION THAT EMPLOYS FLIGHTPROVEN SOFT X-RAY AND ULTRAVIOLET IMAGER TECHNOLOGIES TO STUDY PROBLEMS CENTRAL TO HELIOPHYSICS AS EXPRESSED IN THE DECADAL SURVEY NAMELY RECONNECTION AND THE NATURE OF THE SOLAR WIND-MAGNETOSPHERE INTERACTION. IT IS A SELF-STANDING MISSION THAT REQUIRES OBSERVATIONS FROM NO OTHER SOURCE TO ACHIEVE ITS COMPELLING SCIENTIFIC GOALS BUT PROVIDES GLOBAL OBSERVATIONS THAT WILL UNIFY THE ENTIRE MAGNETOSPHERIC PHYSICS RESEARCH DISCIPLINE. BU PROPOSES TO SUPPORT THE MISSION THROUGH INVESTIGATIONS OF X-RAY OPTICAL ELEMENTS AND SCIENTIFIC MODELING AND ANALYSIS.