The JEM-EUSO program includes several missions employing fluorescence detectors to make a proof-of-principle of the UHECR observation from space and to raise the technological level of the ...instrumentation to be employed in a space mission like K-EUSO and POEMMA. EUSO-TA, installed at the Telescope Array (TA) site in Utah in 2013, has already detected 9 UHECRs in coincidence with TA Fluorescence Detector. EUSO-Balloon flew on board a stratospheric balloon in 2014. It measured the UV intensity on forests, lakes and the city of Timmins as well as proved the observation of UHECR-like events by shooting laser tracks. EUSO-SPB was launched on board a Super Pressure Balloon (SPB) in 2017. It proved the functionality of all the subsystems of the telescope on a long term; observed the UV emission on oceans and had a self-trigger system to detect UHECRs. A more ambitious mission (EUSOSPB2) is planned. TUS, on board the Lomonosov satellite in orbit since 2016, has detected a few interesting signals in the UHECR trigger-mode. Mini-EUSO is in a final phase of integration and will be installed inside the International Space Station (ISS) in 2019. The main results obtained so far by these experiments are summarized.
The origin and nature of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) remain unsolved in contemporary astroparticle physics. To give an answer to these questions is rather challenging because of the ...extremely low flux of a few per km
2
per century at extreme energies such as E > 5 × 10
19
eV. The objective of the JEM-EUSO program, Extreme Universe Space Observatory, is the realization of a space mission devoted to scientific research of cosmic rays of highest energies. Its super-wide-field telescope will look down from space onto the night sky to detect UV photons emitted from air showers generated by UHECRs in the atmosphere. The JEM-EUSO program includes different missions using fluorescence detectors to make a proof-of-principle of the UHECR observation from space and to raise the technological level of the instrumentation to be employed in a space mission. EUSO-TA, installed at the Telescope Array site in Utah in 2013, is in operation. It has already detected 9 UHECRs in coincidence with Telescope Array fluorescence detector at Black Rock Mesa. EUSO-Balloon flew on board a stratospheric balloon in August 2014. It measured the UV intensity on forests, lakesandthecityofTimminsaswellasprovedtheobservationofUHECR-likeeventsbyshootinglasertracks. EUSO-SPB was launched on board a super pressure balloon on April 25
th
and flew for 12 days. It proved the functionality of all the subsystems of the telescope on a typical duration of a balloon flight; observed the UV emission on oceans and has a self-trigger system to observe UHECRs with energy E > 3×10
18
eV. TUS, the Russian mission on board the Lomonosov satellite in orbit since April 28
th
2016, is now included in the JEMEUSO program and has detected so far in the UHECR trigger-mode a few interesting signals. Mini-EUSO is in its final phase of integration in Italy, where several performance tests are being held. Mini-EUSO will be installed inside the International Space Station (ISS) in 2019. The main results obtained so far by such missions are summarized and put in prospect of future space detectors such as K-EUSO and POEMMA.
The Mini-EUSO telescope is designed by the JEM-EUSO Collaboration to observe the UV emission of the Earth from the vantage point of the International Space Station (ISS) in low Earth orbit. The main ...goal of the mission is to map the Earth in the UV, thus increasing the technological readiness level of future EUSO experiments and to lay the groundwork for the detection of Extreme Energy Cosmic Rays (EECRs) from space (Ebisuzaki et al., 2014). Due to its high time resolution of 2.5 μs, Mini-EUSO is capable of detecting a wide range of UV phenomena in the Earth’s atmosphere. In order to maximise the scientific return of the mission, it is necessary to implement a multi-level trigger logic for data selection over different timescales. This logic is key to the success of the mission and thus must be thoroughly tested and carefully integrated into the data processing system prior to the launch. This article introduces the motivation behind the trigger design and details the integration and testing of the logic.
We present here designs for a staged implementation of an orbiting debris remediation system comprised of a super-wide field-of-view telescope (EUSO) and a novel high efficiency fibre-based laser ...system (CAN). Initial proof of concept stages will operate from the International Space Station (ISS) where the EUSO telescope has been designed for operation as a detector of ultra-high energy cosmic rays. Equipped with 2.5m optics and a field of view of ±30°, the EUSO telescope can also be utilised for the detection of high velocity fragmentation debris in orbit near the ISS. Further tracking, characterisation and remediation are to be performed by a CAN laser system operating in tandem with the EUSO telescope. For full scale versions of both instruments, the range of the detection/removal operation can be as large as 100km. Utilising a step-by-step approach of increasing scale we present an analysis of implementation of: 1) Proof of principle demonstration of the detection by a mini-EUSO and operation of 100-fibre CAN laser technology as an ISS based prototype, 2) Technical demonstrator of debris-removal that consists of the EUSO telescope for the detection and a 10,000 fibre CAN laser for tracking and impulse delivery for debris re-entry, and 3) A free-flyer mission dedicated to debris remediation in a polar orbit with the altitude near 800km. The integration of the two novel technologies aboard the ISS amounts to a novel approach as an immediate response to the serious space debris problem with the existing platform of ISS.
•A debris remediation system with a wide angle telescope and a laser transmitter.•A step-by-step approach using the International Space Station (ISS).•Proof of principle demonstration of the detection with an ISS based prototype.•Technical demonstrator with an EUSO telescope and a space CAN laser.•A free-flyer mission dedicated to debris remediation with the altitude ~800km.
At any epoch, particle physics must be open to completely unexpected discoveries, and that is reason enough to extend the reach of searches for ultra-high energy (UHE) photons. The observation of a ...population of photons with energies E≳100EeV would for example imply the existence of either a completely new physical phenomena, or particle acceleration mechanisms heretofore never seen or imagined. But as we outline in this Letter of Interest, there are also good arguments for super-heavy dark matter (SHDM) in a parameter range such that it could be discovered via its decays to, in particular, UHE photons. Only ultra-high energy cosmic ray observatories have capabilities to detect UHE photons. We first investigate how current and future observations can probe and constrain SHDM models in important directions, and then outline some of the scenarios that motivate such searches. We also discuss connections between constraints on SHDM and on the parameter values of cosmological models.
Cosmic Rays above 1017 eV allow studying hadronic interactions at energies that can not be attained at accelerators yet. At the same time hadronic interaction models have to be applied to the ...cosmic-ray induced air-shower cascades in atmosphere to infer the nature of cosmic rays. The reliability of air-shower simulations has become the source of one of the largest systematic uncertainty in the interpretation of cosmic-ray data due to the uncertainties in modeling the hadronic interaction driving the air-shower development. This paper summarises in the first part the recent results on the cosmic ray energy spectrum, composition and anisotropy from the knee region to the GZK cutoff 1, 2 of the spectrum by means of ground-based experiments. Most of the information reported in this contribution is taken from 3–5. Aspects interconnecting cosmic ray and particle physics are reviewed in the second part of the paper.
K-EUSO (KLYPVE-EUSO) is a planned orbital mission aimed at studying ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) by detecting fluorescence and Cherenkov light emitted by extensive air showers in the ...nocturnal atmosphere of Earth in the ultraviolet (UV) range. The observatory is being developed within the JEM-EUSO collaboration and is planned to be deployed on the International Space Station after 2025 and operated for at least two years. The telescope, consisting of ∼105 independent pixels, will allow a spatial resolution of ∼0.6 km on the ground, and, from a 400 km altitude, it will achieve a large and full sky exposure to sample the highest energy range of the UHECR spectrum. We provide a comprehensive review of the current status of the development of the K-EUSO experiment, paying special attention to its hardware parts and expected performance. We demonstrate how results of the K-EUSO mission can complement the achievements of the existing ground-based experiments and push forward the intriguing studies of ultra-high energy cosmic rays, as well as bring new knowledge about other phenomena manifesting themselves in the atmosphere in the UV range.
The Japanese Experiment Module-Extreme Universe Space Observatory (JEM-EUSO) telescope will measure ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray properties by detecting the UV fluorescence light generated in the ...interaction between cosmic rays and the atmosphere. Therefore, information on the state of clouds in the atmosphere is crucial for a proper interpretation of the data. For a real-time observation of the clouds in the telescope field of view, the JEM-EUSO will use an atmospheric monitoring system composed of a light detection and ranging and an infrared (IR) camera. In this paper, the focus is on the IR camera data. To retrieve the cloud-top height (CTH) from IR images, three different methods are considered here. The first one is based on bispectral stereo vision algorithms and requires two different views of the same scene in different spectral bands. For the second one, brightness temperatures provided by the IR camera are converted to effective cloud-top temperatures, from which the CTH is estimated using the vertical temperature profiles. A third method that uses the primary numerical weather prediction model output parameters, such as the cloud fraction, has also been considered to retrieve the CTH. This paper presents a first analysis, in which the heights retrieved by these three methodologies are compared with the heights given by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer sensor installed on the polar satellite Terra. Since all these methods are suitable for the JEM-EUSO mission, they could be used in the future in a complementary way to improve the accuracy of the CTH retrieval.
PDF
