Highlights of the NASA Particle Astrophysics Program

The NASA Particle Astrophysics Program covers Origin of the Elements, Nearest Sources of Cosmic Rays, How Cosmic Particle Accelerators Work, The Nature of Dark Matter, and Neutrino Astrophysics. Progress in each of these topics has come from sophisticated instrumentation flown on long duration ballo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brazilian journal of physics 2014-10, Vol.44 (5), p.534-539
Main Author: Jones, William Vernon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Particles and Fields
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
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Summary:The NASA Particle Astrophysics Program covers Origin of the Elements, Nearest Sources of Cosmic Rays, How Cosmic Particle Accelerators Work, The Nature of Dark Matter, and Neutrino Astrophysics. Progress in each of these topics has come from sophisticated instrumentation flown on long duration balloon (LDB) flights around Antarctica over the past two decades. New opportunities including Super Pressure Balloons (SPB) and International Space Station (ISS) platforms are emerging for the next major step. Stable altitudes and long durations enabled by SPB flights ensure ultra-long duration balloon (ULDB) missions that can open doors to new science opportunities. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) has been operating on the ISS since May 2011. The CALorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) and Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM) experiments are being developed for launch to the Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility (JEM-EF) in 2014. And, the Extreme Universe Space Observatory (EUSO) is planned for launch to the ISS JEM-EF after 2017. Collectively, these four complementary ISS missions covering a large portion of the cosmic ray energy spectrum serve as a cosmic ray observatory.
ISSN:0103-9733
1678-4448
DOI:10.1007/s13538-014-0247-1