$30S$ Beam Development and X‐ray Bursts

Over the past three years, we have worked on developing a well‐characterized $30S$ radioactive beam to be used in a future experiment aiming to directly measure to extrapolate the $30S(α,p)$ stellar reaction rate within the Gamow window of Type I X‐ray bursts. The importance of the $30S(α,p)$ reaction to X‐ray bursts is discussed. Given the astrophysical motivation, the successful results of and challenges involved in the production of a low‐energy $30S$ beam are detailed. Finally, an overview of our future plans regarding this on‐going project are presented.