Measurements of galactic cosmic ray shielding with the CRaTER instrument

Authors

C. ZeitlinFollow
A. W. CaseFollow
Harlan E. Spence, University of New HampshireFollow
Nathan A. Schwadron, University of New HampshireFollow
M. Golightly, University of New HampshireFollow
Jody K. Wilson, University of New HampshireFollow
J. C. KasperFollow
J. B. BlakeFollow
M. D. LooperFollow
J. E. MazurFollow
L. W. TownsendFollow
Y. Iwata

Abstract

[1] The Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER) instrument aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has been measuring energetic charged particles from the galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) and solar particle events in lunar orbit since 2009. CRaTER includes three pairs of silicon detectors, separated by pieces of tissue-equivalent plastic that shield two of the three pairs from particles incident at the zenith-facing end of the telescope. Heavy-ion beams studied in previous ground-based work have been shown to be reasonable proxies for the GCRs when their energies are sufficiently high. That work, which included GCR simulations, led to predictions for the amount of dose reduction that would be observed by CRaTER. Those predictions are compared to flight data obtained by CRaTER in 2010–2011.

Department

Physics

Publication Date

5-1-2013

Journal Title

Space Weather

Publisher

American Geophysical Union

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1002/swe.20043

Document Type

Article

Recommended Citation

Zeitlin, C., et al. (2013), Measurements of galactic cosmic ray shielding with the CRaTER instrument, Space Weather, 11, 284–296, doi:10.1002/swe.20043.

Rights

©2013. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.