Cosmic-ray Heavy Nuclei Spectra Using the ISS-CREAM Instrument

International audienceCosmic Ray Energetics And Mass for the International Space Station (ISS-CREAM) was designed to study high-energy cosmic rays up to PeV and recorded data from August 22nd, 2017 to February 12th, 2019 on the ISS. In this analysis, the Silicon Charge Detector (SCD), CALorimeter (CAL), and Top and Bottom Counting Detectors (TCD/BCD) are used. The SCD is composed of four layers and provides the measurement of cosmic-ray charges with a resolution of $\sim$0.2e. The CAL comprises 20 interleaved tungsten plates and scintillators, measures the incident cosmic-ray particles' energies, and provides a high energy trigger. The TCD/BCDs consist of photodiode arrays and plastic scintillators and provide a low-energy trigger. In this analysis, the SCD top layer is used for charge determination. Here, we present the heavy nuclei analysis using the ISS-CREAM instrument

Simulation Status of the Top and Bottom Counting Detectors for the ISS-CREAM Experiment

International audienceThe Cosmic-Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM) instrument for the International Space Station (ISS) is a detector for studying the origin, acceleration and propagation mechanism of high-energy cosmic rays. The ISS-CREAM instrument is scheduled to launch in 2017 to the ISS. The Top and Bottom Counting Detectors (TCD/BCD) are designed for studying electron and gamma-ray physics. The TCD/BCD are composed of a plastic scintillator and an array of photodiodes The active detection areas of the TCD/BCD are 500 $\times$ 500 mm$^2$ and 600 $\times$ 600 mm$^2$, respectively. The TCD/BCD were completed in 2015 and passed the environmental tests for safety in a space environment. After finishing these tests, the TCD/BCD were integrated with the payload. The TCD is located between the carbon target of the ISS-CREAM instrument and the calorimeter, and the BCD is located below the calorimeter. The TCD/BCD can distinguish between electrons and protons by using the different shapes between electromagnetic and hadronic showers in the high-energy region. We study the TCD/BCD performance in various energy ranges by using GEANT3 simulation data. Here, we present the status of the electron and proton separation study with the TCD/BCD simulation