LIDAL, a Time-of-Flight Radiation Detector for the International Space Station: Description and Ground Calibration
Giulia Romoli,
Luca Di Fino,
Giorgia Santi Amantini,
Virginia Boretti,
Luca Lunati,
Carolina Berucci,
Roberto Messi,
Alessandro Rizzo,
Pietro Albicocco,
Cinzia De Donato,
Giuseppe Masciantonio,
Maria Cristina Morone,
Giovanni Nobili,
Giorgio Baiocco,
Alice Mentana,
Marco Pullia,
Francesco Tommasino,
Elisa Carrubba,
Antonio Bardi,
Marco Passerai,
Dario Castagnolo,
Gabriele Mascetti,
Marino Crisconio,
Livio Narici
Affiliations
Giulia Romoli
Department of Physics, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Luca Di Fino
Italian Space Agency (ASI), 00133 Rome, Italy
Giorgia Santi Amantini
Department of Physics, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Virginia Boretti
Department of Physics, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Luca Lunati
Department of Physics, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Carolina Berucci
Department of Physics, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Roberto Messi
Department of Physics, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Alessandro Rizzo
Institute of Radioprotection (IRP), Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), 00123 Roma, Italy
Pietro Albicocco
National Institute for Nuclear Physics—Frascati National Laboratory, 00044 Rome, Italy
Cinzia De Donato
National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Giuseppe Masciantonio
National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Maria Cristina Morone
Department of Physics, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Giovanni Nobili
National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Giorgio Baiocco
Department of Physics, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Alice Mentana
Department of Physics, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Marco Pullia
The National Center for Oncological Hadron-Therapy (CNAO), 27100 Pavia, Italy
Francesco Tommasino
Department of Physics, University of Trento, 38123 Trento, Italy
Elisa Carrubba
Kayser Italy, 57128 Livorno, Italy
Antonio Bardi
Kayser Italy, 57128 Livorno, Italy
Marco Passerai
Kayser Italy, 57128 Livorno, Italy
Dario Castagnolo
Telespazio, 80125 Napoli, Italy
Gabriele Mascetti
Italian Space Agency (ASI), 00133 Rome, Italy
Marino Crisconio
Italian Space Agency (ASI), 00133 Rome, Italy
Livio Narici
Department of Physics, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
LIDAL (Light Ion Detector for ALTEA, Anomalous Long-Term Effects on Astronauts) is a radiation detector designed to measure the flux, the energy spectra and, for the first time, the time-of-flight of ions in a space habitat. It features a combination of striped silicon sensors for the measurement of deposited energy (using the ALTEA device, which operated from 2006 to 2012 in the International Space Station) and fast scintillators for the time-of-flight measurement. LIDAL was tested and calibrated using the proton beam line at TIFPA (Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics Application) and the carbon beam line at CNAO (National Center for Oncology Hadron-therapy) in 2019. The performance of the time-of-flight system featured a time resolution (sigma) less than 100 ps. Here, we describe the detector and the results of these tests, providing ground calibration curves along with the methodology established for processing the detector’s data. LIDAL was uploaded in the International Space Station in November 2019 and it has been operative in the Columbus module since January 2020.
