Speaker
Description
Low-energy cosmic and solar radiation acts as a probe for a wide range of investigations in astrophysics, heliophysics, and planetary science. At the same time, mitigating the exposure of spacecraft and astronauts to high-energy radiation is one of the greatest challenges to the crewed and robotic exploration of the solar system. We have developed a compact tracking calorimeter made from scintillating-plastic fibers and silicon photomultipliers that can detect and identify individual cosmic-ray nuclei with energies in the MeV-to-GeV region. Its spectroscopic capabilities rival those of larger and more complex systems and its comprehensive particle-identification capabilities allow to more accurately determine the radiation exposure of astronauts. We have also investigated the feasibility of using our detector for the measurement of antinuclei created in astrophysical sources or in the self-annihilation of heavy dark-matter particles. In this contribution, we discuss the development and final design of the tracking calorimeter at the heart of the RadMap Telescope, a technology-demonstration experiment that we operated for nine months on the International Space Station. We also present an initial analysis of on-orbit data to demonstrate the performance of the detector. As an outlook, we discuss the potential measurements that can be performed with sensors derived from this initial instrument
