Measurements of Cosmic Ray LET-Spectra for the D1 Mission Using Plastic Nuclear Track Detectors

Abstract

As part of the experiments Dosimetric Mapping and Carausius morosus we analyzed CR-39 plastic nuclear track detectors which had been exposed to the cosmic radiation during the D1 mission. To determine LET-spectra with good statistics the particle tracks in the CR-39 were detected and measured by an automatic scanning and measuring system. Afterwards these tracks were visually reinspected to separate particle tracks from background structures on the foil surface. An inflight calibration was derived from track measurements of minimum ionizing oxygen and iron nuclei and of stopping nuclei as a function of the residual range. The LET-spectra measured for the D1 mission are compared to calculated spectra.