Research Areas

The JEM-EUSO (Japan Experimental Module, Extreme Universe Space Observatory) will be the first astronomical earth observatory designed to look down on the Earth from above, using our atmosphere as a gigantic detector. The module will be attached to the external pallet of the International Space Station and during its five-year operational life be used to detect extreme energy cosmic ray charged particles above 10^20 eV. These rays reach the Earth in an almost straight line directly from far away in the cosmos, so determining their direction of travel will provide a clue to their origins, even if the source is invisible. It is expected that these observations will open up an entirely new field of astronomy. Work performed insofar has involved the realizazion and test of the main subsystems: PMT, ASIC, Data acquisition system and mechanical structure. Also integration of a number of sections has been completed. This has required the coordination of the national and international effort of integrating the various subsystem from the mechanical to the electrical to the software point of view:

1. Mechanical structure of the focal surface; (in collaboration with the mechanical shop of the INFN).
2. Design of the data acquisition logic (in collaboration with RIKEN, Tuebingen and Ehwa University Seoul)
3. Main Data Processing Unit (in conjunction with Thales Aleniaspace Italy)
4. On station data storage system All these systems will be integrated and field tested on ground (on Telescope Array site, Utah) and from a 40-km balloon flight.

Research Subject

1. JEM-EUSO(Extreme Universe Space Observatory) mission
2. PAMELA data analysis (cosmic rays matter and antimatter)
3. ALTEA data analysis (radiation environment on the ISS)

Related links

1. RIKEN Advanced Science Institute Website_Laboratories Page
2. JEM-EUSO Page