Improving the imaging of the ISS through the SPQR experiment

The Specular Point-like Quick Reference (SPQR) experiment has been successfully performed in 2005. The purpose of the experiment was to enhance the imaging of the International Space Station (ISS). This improvement was achieved by providing, on the ISS image, a “point-like” light “reference” which allowed to assess the image distortion caused by the atmosphere. The goal of image processing (still going on) is to reach a resolution of 20 cm which would have been probably sufficient to detect the damage which caused the Columbia disaster. Actually we can state that the ultimate aim of SPQR was to prove the effectiveness of a system to increase the safety of manned spacecraft. The “point-like quick reference” was provided by a Cube Corner Reflector (CCR) mounted on an ISS window and reflecting a laser beam coming from a ground station. While other methods for manned spacecraft external damage detection are conceivable, the SPQR approach is simple, cost-effective and quickly achievable. The paper describes the SPQR experiment, the flight and ground equipment and the critical requirements related to this experiment. Some preliminary results are also reported

Silicon detectors for the sLHC

In current particle physics experiments, silicon strip detectors are widely used as part of the inner tracking layers. A foreseeable large-scale application for such detectors consists of the luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the super-LHC or sLHC, where silicon detectors with extreme radiation hardness are required. The mission statement of the CERN RD50 Collaboration is the development of radiation-hard semiconductor devices for very high luminosity colliders. As a consequence, the aim of the R&D programme presented in this article is to develop silicon particle detectors able to operate at sLHC conditions. Research has progressed in different areas, such as defect characterisation, defect engineering and full detector systems. Recent results from these areas will be presented. This includes in particular an improved understanding of the macroscopic changes of the effective doping concentration based on identification of the individual microscopic defects, results from irradiation with a mix of different particle types as expected for the sLHC, and the observation of charge multiplication effects in heavily irradiated detectors at very high bias voltages