TriTel 3 dimensional space dosimetric telescope in the European Student Earth Orbiter project of ESA

Abstract

The development of the European Student Earth Orbiter (ESEO) was announced in the year of 2008 by the European Space Agency for students interested in the space exploration. The Budapest University of Technology and Economics joined this international cooperation with three student groups among other participating European universities. One of them is the ESEO-TriTel team. The development of the TriTel 3D silicon detector telescope began in the KFKI Atomic Energy Research Institute several years ago in order to determine the average radiation quality factor of the space radiation field for dosimetric purposes. In the year 2011—before the start of the ESEO mission—it will be operated on board the European Columbus module of the International Space Station (ISS) and will be installed in the Russian segment of the ISS as well. The ESEO version of TriTel will fly higher than the ISS version, at an altitude of 520 km. At this altitude the Earth's geomagnetic field is much lower and the spectrum of the radiation field is also different. In the ESEO-TriTel experiment the anisotropies in the radiation field, the effects of the Earth shadow and the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) will be analysed and the results will be compared with the fluxes calculated with the standard AP-8 and AE-8 trapped proton and electron models. In the near future the frequency of manned space flights will probably increase, we can think of the continuous human presence in the near-Earth region (low Earth orbits) or the proposed human Mars expedition. That is why the cosmic radiation field is interesting not only in the near-Earth region but at higher altitudes or in the interplanetary field as well. The present paper addresses the optimal shielding of the dosimetric telescopes of TriTel in order to avoid the saturation of the electronics. The amount of optimal shielding is equivalent to the effective thickness of astronaut's space suit, which means that the same dose will be measured as what the astronauts might experience in the interplanetary field. The thermal requirements, both the general and TriTel specific ones, are discussed as well.