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Payload 08 Information


Payload Flight Number:

2018 - 08
Institution:

Sint-Pieterscollege Jette, Brussels, BELGIUM (High School)
Payload Title:

STRAINS - STratospheric RAdiation INstrumentS

Student Leader:
  • Vincent Van den Moortel
  • Physical Sciences/Science-Math
  • Sint-Pieterscollege Jette
  • Leon Theodorstraat 167
  • Brussels,Belgium 1090
Faculty Advisor:
  • Erik de Schrijver
  • Physical Sciences
  • Sint-Pieterscollege Jette
  • Leon Theodorstraat 167
  • Brussels, Belgium 1090
  • Email:eds@sint-pieterscollege.be
Payload class:
Small
Payload ID Number:
08
Mass:
Current:
Serial Commands:
Discrete Commands:
Payload Specification & Integration Plan
Due: 06/22/2018
Delivered:
Payload Integration Certification
Scheduled: 07/27/2018
Actual:
Flight Operation Plan
Due: 07/19/2018
Delivered:
Final Flight / Science Report
Due: 12/07/2018
Delivered:
Abstract:
The intensity of gamma rays in Earth's atmosphere is strongly dependent on altitude. While intensity at sea level is low and the presence of gamma photons there predominantly due to radioactive decay of crustal isotopes, at altitude different other processes are at play. 'Atmospheric' gammas are generated when heavy ions or solar protons encounter atmospheric atoms and/or molecules. Such gammas are most numerous around 15-20km, which is sometimes referred to in the literature as the Pfotzer maximum. Rising above this maximum an ever increasing fraction of the gamma photons observed have non-terrestrial, often deep-space (and violent) origins: accretion of interstellar material on black holes, supernova explosions, tidal disruption events, etc. STRAINS intends to investigate the amount, direction, energy and (if possible) origin of gamma photons in the upper atmosphere
Payload Integration Plan: