Spaceborne COTS-Capsule hodoscope: Detecting and characterizing particle radiation

Yoav Simhony*, Alex Segal, Yuri Orlov, Dolev Bashi, Ofer Amrani, Erez Etzion

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The COTS-Capsule Spaceborne hodoscope was launched into low Earth orbit aboard the International Space Station and operated from 2021 to 2022. The primary objectives of the payload are measuring and characterizing the radiation environment within the space station, serving as a technology demonstrator for the COTS-Capsule radiation mitigation apparatus, and testing the interaction of high-energy cosmic particles on-orbit with our detectors. The payload features a particle hodoscope equipped with an array of novel detectors based on polyvinyl toluene scintillators and silicon photomultiplier sensors that are used for radiation detection and characterization employing 2D intensity-based triangulation. This paper provides a comprehensive account of the COTS-Capsule payload's construction, preflight performance, testing, qualification, and on-orbit calibration. The hodoscope, sensitive to ionizing cosmic particles, facilitates impinging particle track reconstruction by multi-detector 2D position estimation, energy deposition estimation, and linear energy transfer estimation.

Funding

FundersFunder number
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Israel Aerospace Industries
Samsung
Ramon Foundation
Tel Aviv University
Soreq Nuclear Research Center
UniBern ForschungsstiftungDT5702

    Keywords

    • Cosmic particles
    • GEANT4
    • Hodoscope
    • International Space Station (ISS)
    • Particle detector
    • Space

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Spaceborne COTS-Capsule hodoscope: Detecting and characterizing particle radiation'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this