  Handed the baton from ROSAT, early observations of SN 1987A with the Chandra
HETG and the XMM-Newton RGS showed broad lines with a FWHM of 10^4 km/s: the SN
blast wave was continuing to shock the H II region around SN 1987A. Since then,
its picturesque equatorial ring (ER) has been shocked, giving rise to a
growing, dominant narrow-lined component. Even so, current HETG and RGS
observations show that a broad component is still present and contributes 20%
of the 0.5--2 keV flux. SN 1987A's X-ray behavior can be modeled with a minimum
of free parameters as the sum of two simple 1D hydrodynamic simulations: i) an
on-going interaction with H II region material producing the broad emission
lines and most of the 3--10 keV flux, and ii) an interaction with the dense,
clumpy ER material that dominates the 0.5--2 keV flux. Toward the future, we
predict a continued growth of the broad component but a drop in the 0.5--2 keV
flux, once no new dense ER material is being shocked. When? Time, and new data,
will tell.
