Astrophysics, abstract
astro-ph/0608697

From: Roberta Sparvoli Dr [view email]

Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 13:34:36 GMT (3045kb)

PAMELA - A Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics

Authors: P. Picozza, A.M. Galper, G. Castellini, O. Adriani, F. Altamura, M. Ambriola, G.C. Barbarino, A. Basili, G.A. Bazilevskaja, R. Bencardino, M. Boezio, E.A. Bogomolov, L. Bonechi, M. Bongi, L. Bongiorno, V. Bonvicini, F. Cafagna, D. Campana, P. Carlson, M. Casolino, C. De Marzo, M.P. De Pascale, G. De Rosa, D. Fedele, P. Hofverberg, S.V. Koldashov, S.Yu. Krutkov, A.N. Kvashnin, J. Lund, J. Lundquist, O. Maksumov, V. Malvezzi, L. Marcelli, W. Menn, V.V. Mikhailov, M. Minori, S. Misin, E. Mocchiutti, A. Morselli, N.N. Nikonov, S. Orsi, G. Osteria, P. Papini, M. Pearce, M. Ricci, S.B. Ricciarini, M.F. Runtso, S. Russo, M. Simon, R. Sparvoli, P. Spillantini, Yu.I. Stozhkov, E. Taddei, A. Vacchi, E. Vannuccini, S.A. Voronov, Y.T. Yurkin, G. Zampa, N. Zampa, V.G. Zverev

The PAMELA experiment is a satellite-borne apparatus designed to study charged particles in the cosmic radiation with a particular focus on antiparticles. PAMELA is mounted on the Resurs DK1 satellite that was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome on June 15th 2006.

The PAMELA apparatus comprises a time-of-flight system, a magnetic spectrometer, a silicon-tungsten electromagnetic calorimeter, an anticoincidence system, a shower tail catcher scintillator and a neutron detector. The combination of these devices allows antiparticles to be reliably identified from a large background of other charged particles.

This paper reviews the design, space qualification and on-ground performance of PAMELA. The in-orbit performance will be discussed in future publications.

http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0608697