Timepix-based radiation environment monitor measurements aboard the International Space Station

Abstract

A number of small, single element radiation detectors, employing the CERN-based Medipix2 Collaboration׳s Timepix Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) coupled to a specially modified version of the USB-Lite interface for that ASIC provided by the Institute for Experimental and Applied Physics (IEAP) at the Czech Technical University in Prague, have been developed at the University of Houston and NASA Johnson Space Center. These detectors, officially designated by NASA as Radiation Environment Monitors (REMs), were deployed aboard the International Space Station in late 2012. Six REM units are currently operating on Station Support Computers (SSCs) and returning data on a daily basis. The associated data acquisition software on the SSCs provides both automated data collection and transfer, as well as algorithms to handle adjustment of acquisition rates and recovery and restart of the acquisition software. A suite of ground software analysis tools has been developed to allow rapid analysis of the data and provides a ROOT-based framework for extending data analysis capabilities.