ALTEA: anomalous long term effects on astronauts on board the international space station

In questo lavoro di tesi sarà riportato il lavoro portato avanti sull’esperimento ALTEA durante i miei anni di dottorato. ALTEA (Anomalouos Long Term Effects on Astronauts) è un progetto finanziato dall’ASI, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana; è un programma multidisciplinare rivolto allo studio degli effetti funzionali della radiazione durante la permanenza umana nello spazio e contemporaneamente rivolto ad ottenere una misura della radiazione ambientale all’interno della Stazione Spaziale Internazionale (ISS). ALTEA è costituito da diversi esperimenti sia a terra che nello spazio. Il mio coinvolgimento ha riguardato principalmente l’esperimento ALTEA-space di cui ho seguito personalmente i test hardware, le calibrazioni su fascio e l’analisi dei dati di volo. Dopo una introduzione sull’ambiente spaziale e una breve descrizione dei principali effetti dell’esposizione a radiazione, riportate nel capitolo 1, nel capitolo 2 è presentato il programma ALTEA, con i suoi obiettivi scientifici e i differenti esperimenti che lo compongono. La facility ALTEA-space è descritta invece nel capitolo 3. Nel 4 capitolo è riportata una semplice simulazione utilizzata per il calcolo del flusso di particelle atteso all’interno della ISS. Nei capitoli successivi è per primo descritto tutto lo studio da me effettuato per verificare le performances e le caratteristiche del rivelatore ed in seguito vengono descritte le due sessioni di test eseguite all’acceleratore di particelle del GSI per testare e calibrare il modello di test (TM) e il modello di volo (FM) dell’apparato. Questo lavoro preliminare è stato completato con l’analisi dei dati acquisiti a terra dal modello di volo di ALTEA con tutti i sottosistemi accesi. Dopo la consegna dell’hardware di ALTEA-space a NASA, ho contribuito alla configurazione ed installazione dell’ALTEA User Home Base (UHB) dove vengono ricevuti tutti i dati di volo e da dove sono effettuate le comunicazioni verso NASA a supporto delle operazioni di volo. Prima dell’inizio della missione ho partecipato alle simulazioni NASA volte a familiarizzare con le operazioni di volo. ALTEA è stata finalmente portata a bordo della Stazione Spaziale Internazionale all’interno della missione Shuttle STS-121 il 4 Luglio 2006; nell’ultimo capitolo di questa tesi è descritto lo stato attuale delle operazioni di volo e sono presentati i risultati dell’analisi condotta sui primi dati raccolti sulla ISS. In questa tesi sono stati analizzati circa tre mesi di dati e i primi risultati includono tra gli altri lo studio del flusso di particelle, I differenti flussi rivelati dai sei rivelatori di particelle e un primo calcolo delle abbondanze nucleari relative. Ho infine contribuito a realizzare e a testare gli strumenti software di preprocessamento e di analisi dei dati usati sia per i dati di calibrazione che per i dati di volo. Questi strumenti sono stati sviluppati utilizzando diversi linguaggi di programmazione (C, VC++, VB, IDL).In this thesis I summarized the work carried out on ALTEA experiment during my PhD years. ALTEA (Anomalouos Long Term Effects on Astronauts) is a project funded by ASI, the Italian Space Agency; it is a multidisciplinary program devoted to investigate the functional effects of radiation during man permanences in space and concurrently to get a measure of radiation environment inside the International Space Station. It is constitued by several experiments both gorund-based and in space. I was mainly involved in the ALTEA-space experiment and I followed the hardware functioning tests, the calibration and the analysis of flight data. After an overview of space environment and a brief description of the main effects of radiation exposure, reported in the first chapter, the Altea program is presented with its scientific goals and the different experiments that it includes. In particular the ALTEA-space facility is described in the third chapter. In the fourth chapter a simple simulation to calculate the expected particle flux inside the ISS will be presented. In the following chapters, first of all the study I performed to verify the detector performances and characteristics is described, then the two session tests carried out at the GSI accelerator in order to test and calibrate the Flight Model and the Test Model of the device. This preliminary work was completed with the analysis of the files acquired on ground with all ALTEA Flight Model subsystems active. After ALTEA-space hardware was delivered to NASA, I contributed to asses the ALTEA User Home Base (UHB), where operation data are collected and the communications with NASA take place. Before the start of the mission operation I partecipated to the NASA simulations aimed at the reproduction of flight operations. ALTEA was finally brought on board the International Space Station within the STS-121 Shuttle mission on the July the 4th 2006; in the last chapter of this thesis the actual flight operations are described and the results of analysis performed on the first scientific data gathered onboard ISS are showed. About three month data were analyzed in this thesis and the first results include, among others, the study of the particle rate, the different particle fluxes measured by the six particle detectors and the first calculation of relative nuclear abundances. I contributed to realize and test pre-processing and analysis tools used both for calibration and for flight operations. These tools were developed using several programming languages (C, VC++, VB, IDL)

ALTEA: anomalous long term effects on astronauts on board the international space station

In questo lavoro di tesi sarà riportato il lavoro portato avanti sull’esperimento ALTEA durante i miei anni di dottorato. ALTEA (Anomalouos Long Term Effects on Astronauts) è un progetto finanziato dall’ASI, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana; è un programma multidisciplinare rivolto allo studio degli effetti funzionali della radiazione durante la permanenza umana nello spazio e contemporaneamente rivolto ad ottenere una misura della radiazione ambientale all’interno della Stazione Spaziale Internazionale (ISS). ALTEA è costituito da diversi esperimenti sia a terra che nello spazio. Il mio coinvolgimento ha riguardato principalmente l’esperimento ALTEA-space di cui ho seguito personalmente i test hardware, le calibrazioni su fascio e l’analisi dei dati di volo. Dopo una introduzione sull’ambiente spaziale e una breve descrizione dei principali effetti dell’esposizione a radiazione, riportate nel capitolo 1, nel capitolo 2 è presentato il programma ALTEA, con i suoi obiettivi scientifici e i differenti esperimenti che lo compongono. La facility ALTEA-space è descritta invece nel capitolo 3. Nel 4 capitolo è riportata una semplice simulazione utilizzata per il calcolo del flusso di particelle atteso all’interno della ISS. Nei capitoli successivi è per primo descritto tutto lo studio da me effettuato per verificare le performances e le caratteristiche del rivelatore ed in seguito vengono descritte le due sessioni di test eseguite all’acceleratore di particelle del GSI per testare e calibrare il modello di test (TM) e il modello di volo (FM) dell’apparato. Questo lavoro preliminare è stato completato con l’analisi dei dati acquisiti a terra dal modello di volo di ALTEA con tutti i sottosistemi accesi. Dopo la consegna dell’hardware di ALTEA-space a NASA, ho contribuito alla configurazione ed installazione dell’ALTEA User Home Base (UHB) dove vengono ricevuti tutti i dati di volo e da dove sono effettuate le comunicazioni verso NASA a supporto delle operazioni di volo. Prima dell’inizio della missione ho partecipato alle simulazioni NASA volte a familiarizzare con le operazioni di volo. ALTEA è stata finalmente portata a bordo della Stazione Spaziale Internazionale all’interno della missione Shuttle STS-121 il 4 Luglio 2006; nell’ultimo capitolo di questa tesi è descritto lo stato attuale delle operazioni di volo e sono presentati i risultati dell’analisi condotta sui primi dati raccolti sulla ISS. In questa tesi sono stati analizzati circa tre mesi di dati e i primi risultati includono tra gli altri lo studio del flusso di particelle, I differenti flussi rivelati dai sei rivelatori di particelle e un primo calcolo delle abbondanze nucleari relative. Ho infine contribuito a realizzare e a testare gli strumenti software di preprocessamento e di analisi dei dati usati sia per i dati di calibrazione che per i dati di volo. Questi strumenti sono stati sviluppati utilizzando diversi linguaggi di programmazione (C, VC++, VB, IDL).In this thesis I summarized the work carried out on ALTEA experiment during my PhD years. ALTEA (Anomalouos Long Term Effects on Astronauts) is a project funded by ASI, the Italian Space Agency; it is a multidisciplinary program devoted to investigate the functional effects of radiation during man permanences in space and concurrently to get a measure of radiation environment inside the International Space Station. It is constitued by several experiments both gorund-based and in space. I was mainly involved in the ALTEA-space experiment and I followed the hardware functioning tests, the calibration and the analysis of flight data. After an overview of space environment and a brief description of the main effects of radiation exposure, reported in the first chapter, the Altea program is presented with its scientific goals and the different experiments that it includes. In particular the ALTEA-space facility is described in the third chapter. In the fourth chapter a simple simulation to calculate the expected particle flux inside the ISS will be presented. In the following chapters, first of all the study I performed to verify the detector performances and characteristics is described, then the two session tests carried out at the GSI accelerator in order to test and calibrate the Flight Model and the Test Model of the device. This preliminary work was completed with the analysis of the files acquired on ground with all ALTEA Flight Model subsystems active. After ALTEA-space hardware was delivered to NASA, I contributed to asses the ALTEA User Home Base (UHB), where operation data are collected and the communications with NASA take place. Before the start of the mission operation I partecipated to the NASA simulations aimed at the reproduction of flight operations. ALTEA was finally brought on board the International Space Station within the STS-121 Shuttle mission on the July the 4th 2006; in the last chapter of this thesis the actual flight operations are described and the results of analysis performed on the first scientific data gathered onboard ISS are showed. About three month data were analyzed in this thesis and the first results include, among others, the study of the particle rate, the different particle fluxes measured by the six particle detectors and the first calculation of relative nuclear abundances. I contributed to realize and test pre-processing and analysis tools used both for calibration and for flight operations. These tools were developed using several programming languages (C, VC++, VB, IDL)

The ALTEA experiment onboard the International Space Station

The knowledge of the composition of the radiation environment is an important information for all the radiation safety issues needed for the planning of future long manned space missions. The ALTEA detector is on board the International Space Station since July 2006 and during this period it has performed a detailed measurement of the radiation environment. In this paper we present a summary of past measures and results

Solar particle event detected by ALTEA on board the International Space Station

Context. Solar activity poses substantial risk for astronauts of the International Space Station (ISS) both on board and during extravehicular activity. An accurate assessment of the charged radiation flux in space habitats is necessary to determine the risk and the specific type of radiation exposure of ISS crew members, and to develop ways to protect future crews for planetary missions, even in case of high solar activity. Aims. To reduce the present-day uncertainties about the nature and magnitude of the particle fluxes in space habitats during a solar event, it is fundamental to measure those fluxes in situ. Methods. The ALTEA (Anomalous Long Term Effects on Astronauts) experiment on board the ISS is an active detector composed of six silicon telescopes and is able to follow the dynamics of the radiation flux. During its operation in 2012 a number of flux peaks were detected in correspondence with solar events. Results. We present in this work an analysis of the ALTEA data measured during the March 7th, 2012 solar event, produced by NOAA AR11429. Conclusions. During this event, the flux was enhanced tenfold with respect to ‘‘quiet Sun’’ conditions, producing strong dose increases at high geomagnetic latitudes

The relativistic solar particle event of May 17th, 2012 observed on board the International Space Station

High-energy charged particles represent a severe radiation risk for astronauts and spacecrafts and could damage ground critical infrastructures related to space services. Different natural sources are the origin of these particles, among them galactic cosmic rays, solar energetic particles and particles trapped in radiation belts. Solar particle events (SPE) consist in the emission of high-energy protons, alpha-particles, electrons and heavier particles from solar flares or shocks driven by solar plasma propagating through the corona and interplanetary space. Ground-level enhancements (GLE) are rare solar events in which particles are accelerated to near relativistic energies and affect space and ground-based infrastructures. During the current solar cycle 24 a single GLE event was recorded on May 17th, 2012 associated with an M5.1-class solar flare. The investigation of such a special class of solar events permits us to measure conditions in space critical to both scientific and operational research. This event, classified as GLE71, was detected on board the International Space Station (ISS) by the active particle detectors of the ALTEA (Anomalous Long Term Effects in Astronauts) experiment. The collected data permit us to study the radiation environment inside the ISS. In this work we present the first results of the analysis of data acquired by ALTEA detectors during GLE71 associated with an M5.1-class solar flare. We estimate the energy loss spectrum of the solar particles and evaluate the contribution to the total exposure of ISS astronauts to solar high-energy charged particles

Solar particle event detected by ALTEA on board the International Space Station

Context. Solar activity poses substantial risk for astronauts of the International Space Station (ISS) both on board and during extravehicular activity. An accurate assessment of the charged radiation flux in space habitats is necessary to determine the risk and the specific type of radiation exposure of ISS crew members, and to develop ways to protect future crews for planetary missions, even in case of high solar activity. Aims. To reduce the present-day uncertainties about the nature and magnitude of the particle fluxes in space habitats during a solar event, it is fundamental to measure those fluxes in situ. Methods. The ALTEA (Anomalous Long Term Effects on Astronauts) experiment on board the ISS is an active detector composed of six silicon telescopes and is able to follow the dynamics of the radiation flux. During its operation in 2012 a number of flux peaks were detected in correspondence with solar events. Results. We present in this work an analysis of the ALTEA data measured during the March 7th, 2012 solar event, produced by NOAA AR11429. Conclusions. During this event, the flux was enhanced tenfold with respect to ‘‘quiet Sun’’ conditions, producing strong dose increases at high geomagnetic latitudes

Summary of recent results obtained by the Sileye-3/Alteino detector in the Russian part of the International Space Station as part of the ALTCRISS project

The Sileye3/Alteino experiment is devoted to the investigation of the light flash phenomenon and particle composition of the cosmic ray spectrum inside the ISS. The particle detector is a silicon telescope consisting of eight planes, each divided into 32 strips. Data acquisition was initiated in 2002 in the Russian Pirs module. The data on nuclei from C to Fe in the energy range above about 60 MeV/n presented here were taken as part of the ESA Altcriss project [ 1] from late 2005 through 2007. Here we report on LET, from different locations and orientations, in both the Pirs and Zvezda modules. Taking solar modulation into account the results are in agreement with ALTEA measurements from USLab [ 2]. To convert the energy deposition in Si to the equivalent in water, the logarithmic relation between LET in Si and water adopted from [ 3]. In Fig. 1, the LET spectra in water for Alteino and ALTEA are compared with DOSTEL spectrum from 2001 [ 4], and we see a good overall agreement. We are currently in the process of preparing a detailed paper on the dose and dose equivalent rates in different places inside the Zvezda and Pirs modules and a novel analysis of the contribution to the different doses as a function of strip hit multiplicity