Title: Launch of the Space experiment PAMELA Authors: M. Casolino, P. Picozza, F. Altamura, A. Basili, N. De Simone, V. Di Felice, M. P. De Pascale, L. Marcelli, M. Minori, M. Nagni, R. Sparvoli, A. M. Galper, V. V. Mikhailov, M. F. Runtso, S. A. Voronov, Y. T. Yurkin, V. G. Zverev, G. Castellini, O. Adriani, L. Bonechi, M. Bongi, E. Taddei, E. Vannuccini, D. Fedele, P. Papini, S. B. Ricciarini, P. Spillantini, M. Ambriola, F. Cafagna, C. De Marzo, G. C. Barbarino, D. Campana, G. De Rosa, G. Osteria, S. Russo, G. A. Bazilevskaja, A. N. Kvashnin, O. Maksumov, S. Misin, Yu. I. Stozhkov, E. A. Bogomolov, S. Yu. Krutkov, N. N. Nikonov, V. Bonvicini, M. Boezio, J. Lundquist, E. Mocchiutti, A. Vacchi, G. Zampa, N. Zampa, L. Bongiorno, M. Ricci, P. Carlson, P. Hofverberg, J. Lund, S. Orsi, M. Pearce, W. Menn, M. Simon
PAMELA is a satellite borne experiment designed to study with great accuracy cosmic rays of galactic, solar, and trapped nature in a wide energy range protons: 80 MeV-700 GeV, electrons 50 MeV-400 GeV). Main objective is the study of the antimatter component: antiprotons (80 MeV-190 GeV), positrons (50 MeV-270 GeV) and search for antimatter with a precision of the order of 10^-8). The experiment, housed on board the Russian Resurs-DK1 satellite, was launched on June, 15, 2006 in a 350*600 km orbit with an inclination of 70 degrees. The detector is composed of a series of scintillator counters arranged at the extremities of a permanent magnet spectrometer to provide charge, Time-of-Flight and rigidity information. Lepton/hadron identification is performed by a Silicon-Tungsten calorimeter and a Neutron detector placed at the bottom of the device. An Anticounter system is used offline to reject false triggers coming from the satellite. In self-trigger mode the Calorimeter, the neutron detector and a shower tail catcher are capable of an independent measure of the lepton component up to 2 TeV. In this work we describe the experiment, its scientific objectives and the performance in the first months after launch.
Title: PAMELA - A Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics Authors: P. Picozza, A.M. Galper, G. Castellini, O. Adriani, F. Altamura, M. Ambriola, G.C. Barbarino, A. Basili, G.A. Bazilevskaja, R. Bencardino, M. Boezio, E.A. Bogomolov, L. Bonechi, M. Bongi, L. Bongiorno, V. Bonvicini, F. Cafagna, D. Campana, P. Carlson, M. Casolino, C. De Marzo, M.P. De Pascale, G. De Rosa, D. Fedele, P. Hofverberg, S.V. Koldashov, S.Yu. Krutkov, A.N. Kvashnin, J. Lund, J. Lundquist, O. Maksumov, V. Malvezzi, L. Marcelli, W. Menn, V.V. Mikhailov, M. Minori, S. Misin, E. Mocchiutti, A. Morselli, N.N. Nikonov, S. Orsi, G. Osteria, P. Papini, M. Pearce, M. Ricci, S.B. Ricciarini, M.F. Runtso, S. Russo, M. Simon, R. Sparvoli, P. Spillantini, Yu.I. Stozhkov, E. Taddei, A. Vacchi, E. Vannuccini, S.A. Voronov, Y.T. Yurkin, G. Zampa, N. Zampa, V.G. Zverev
The PAMELA experiment is a satellite-borne apparatus designed to study charged particles in the cosmic radiation with a particular focus on antiparticles. PAMELA is mounted on the Resurs DK1 satellite that was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome on June 15th 2006. The PAMELA apparatus comprises a time-of-flight system, a magnetic spectrometer, a silicon-tungsten electromagnetic calorimeter, an anticoincidence system, a shower tail catcher scintillator and a neutron detector. The combination of these devices allows antiparticles to be reliably identified from a large background of other charged particles. This paper reviews the design, space qualification and on-ground performance of PAMELA. The in-orbit performance will be discussed in future publications.
A Soyuz-U Rocket Body launched on the 15th June 2006 from the Baikonour Cosmodrome for the Resurs DK1 mission, is predicted to re-enter the earths atmosphere on the 28th June @ 18:34 UTC ± 48 hours
The first satellite built to detect antimatter in space launched safely yesterday, boosting the chances of identifying the mysterious 'dark matter' that makes up more than 80% of the stuff in the Universe.
The PAMELA probe (Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics) took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 15 June, carrying instruments that will catch antiprotons and positrons, the mirror particles of protons and electrons.
High-energy particles from elsewhere in the Universe, called cosmic rays, constantly rain down onto the Earth: some are neutrons, some are atomic nuclei and some are antimatter. But previous attempts to survey the drops of antimatter in the downpour have been restricted to balloon flights. These last for days or weeks at most and catch a mere handful of the elusive antiparticles that are almost entirely absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere.
There seems to have been a few problems with the communications system, which occurred in the first hours after the launch.
"The tests of the onboard equipment have started and should take around two days before the satellite should be put into working orbit" - Valery Lydnin, mission control spokesman.
Resurs-DK was launched at 12.00 Moscow time from the spaceport Baikonur spaceport.
The spacecraft separated from the carrier 8.5 minutes after the launch. Resurs-DK was built for distant earth probing , environmental control, and monitoring of natural and man-made disasters. The spacecraft is capable of surveying up to 700,000 square kilometres, with a resolution of one meter, daily. Its navigation is based on Russia's global navigation satellite system Glonass. Resurs-DK will be operable for three years.
A Russian Soyuz rocket will launch the Russian Resurs DK-1 remote sensing spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on June 15th, possibly at 08:00 UT
Two other scientific Payloads will be included with the Resurs-DK. The PAMELA experiment, intended for the investigation of Cosmic Rays, is based on an international collaboration, involving about 100 physicists. The PAMELA apparatus will detect of high energy charged particles. The Russian scientific equipment ARINA will detect and locate the source of high energy electrons and protons.