LURAD: Design study of a comprehensive radiation monitor package for the gateway and the lunar surface

Abstract

Moon is an auspicious environment for the study of Galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and Solar Particle Events (SEP) due to the absence of magnetic field and atmosphere. The same characteristics raise the radiation risk for human presence in orbit around it or at the lunar surface. The secondary (albedo) radiation resulting from the interaction of the primary radiation with the lunar soil adds an extra risk factor, because neutrons are produced, but also it can be exploited to study the soil composition. In this paper, the design of a comprehensive radiation monitor package tailored to the lunar environment is presented. The detector, named LURAD, will perform spectroscopic measurements of protons, electrons, heavy ions, as well as gamma-rays, and neutrons. A microdosimetry monitor subsystem is foreseen which can provide measurements of LET(Si) spectra in a wide dynamic range of LET(Si) and flux for SPE and GCR, detection of neutrons and biological dose for radiation protection of astronauts. The LURAD design leverages on the following key enabling technologies: (a) Fully depleted Si monolithic active pixel sensors; (b) Scintillators read by silicon photomultipliers (SiPM); (c) Silicon on Insulator (SOI) microdosimetry sensors; These technologies promise miniaturization and mass reduction with state-of-the-art performance. The instrument’s design is presented, and the Monte Carlo study of the feasibility of particle identification and kinetic energy determination is discussed.