Radiation environment measurements on Shuttle missions using the CREAM experiment

Author

Dyer, C.S. ; Sims, A.J. ; Truscott, P.R. ; Farren, J. ; Underwood, C.

Author_Institution

Defense Res. Agency, Farnborough, UK

Volume

39

Issue

6

fYear

1992

fDate

12/1/1992 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1809

Lastpage

1816

Abstract

The Cosmic Radiation Environment and Activation Monitor (CREAM) was successfully deployed in the middeck area on Shuttle missions STS-48 and STS-44 during September and November 1991 with the aim of monitoring those aspects of the primary and secondary radiation environment responsible for single event upsets in microelectronics and background noise in sensors. Results are compared with the outputs of standard radiation environment models. For the accurate location of trapped protons the choice of geomagnetic field model is shown to be critical, while results at high latitudes show the low-altitude manifestation of the new trapped proton belt observed to follow the March 1991 solar flare event. From deployment at a number of locations there is clear evidence for a significant build-up with shielding of secondary charged particles and neutrons

Keywords

aerospace instrumentation; proton effects; radiation belts; radiation hardening (electronics); solar flares; space vehicles; CREAM experiment; Cosmic Radiation Environment and Activation Monitor; March 1991 solar flare event; Shuttle missions; background noise; geomagnetic field model; location of trapped protons; microelectronics; radiation environment measurements; single event upsets; trapped proton belt; Background noise; Detectors; Extraterrestrial measurements; Geomagnetism; Neutrons; Packaging; Protons; Radiation monitoring; Single event upset; Space technology;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/23.211371

Filename

211371