A. Iannucci

In-Orbit Performance of the Space Telescope NINA and Galactic Cosmic-Ray Flux Measurements

The NINA apparatus, on board the Russian satellite Resurs-01 No. 4, has been in polar orbit since 1998 July 10, at an altitude of 840 km. Its main scienti—c task is to study the Galactic, solar, and anomalous components of cosmic rays in the energy interval 10¨200 MeV nucleon~1. In this paper we present a description of the instrument and its basic operating modes. Measurements of Galactic cosmic-ray spectra will also be shown.

Light Isotope Abundances in Solar Energetic Particles Measured by the Space Instrument NINA

This article reports nine solar energetic particle (SEP) events detected by the New Instrument for Nuclear Analysis (NINA) between 1998 October and 1999 April. NINA is a silicon-based particle detector mounted on board the Russian satellite Resurs-01-4, which has flown at an altitude of about 800 km in polar inclination since 1998 July. For every solar event, the power-law 4He spectrum across the energy interval 10-50 MeV nucleon-1 was reconstructed and spectral indexes, γ, from 1.8 to 6.8 extracted. Data of 3He and 4He were used to determine the 3He/4He ratio, which for some SEP events indicated an enrichment in 3He. For the 1998 November 7 event, the ratio reached a maximum value of 0.33 ± 0.06, with spectral indexes of γ = 2.5 ± 0.6 and γ = 3.7 ± 0.3 for 3He and 4He, respectively. The 3He/4He ratio averaged over the remaining events was 0.011 ± 0.004. For all events, a deuterium-to-proton ratio was estimated. An upper limit on the average value over all events was 2H/1H < 4 × 10-5 across the energy interval 9-12 MeV nucleon-1. Upper limits on the 3H/1H counting ratio for all events were determined. For the 1998 November 14 SEP event, the high flux of heavy particles detected made it possible to reconstruct the carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen flux.

Launch in orbit of the telescope NINA for cosmic ray observations: preliminary results

On July the 10th, 1998 the telescope NINA was launched in space on board the Russian satellite Resurs-01 n.4. The scientific task of the mission is the study of the galactic, solar and anomalous components of the cosmic rays in the energy interval 10–200 MeV/n for contained particles. The core of NINA is a segmented silicon detector mounted onto the satellite so to point to the zenith. In this paper we report about the cosmic ray measurements performed by the telescope during its first 6 months of operation.

The small satellite NINA-MITA to study galactic and solar cosmic rays in low-altitude polar orbit

Abstract The satellite MITA, carrying on board the scientific payload NINA-2, was launched on July the 15th, 2000 from the cosmodrome of Plesetsk (Russia) with a Cosmos-3M rocket. The satellite and the payload are currently operating within nominal parameters. NINA-2 is the first scientific payload for the technological flight of the Italian small satellite MITA. The detector used in this mission is identical to the one already flying on the Russian satellite Resurs-O1 n.4 in a 840-km sun-synchronous orbit, but makes use of the extensive computer and telemetry capabilities of MITA bus to improve the active data acquisition time. NINA physics objectives are to study cosmic nuclei from hydrogen to iron in the energy range between 10 MeV/n and 1 GeV/n during the years 2000–2003, that is the solar maximum period. The device is capable of charge identification up to iron with isotope sensitivity up to oxigen. The 87.3 degrees, 460 km altitude polar orbit allows investigations of cosmic rays of solar and galactic origin, so to study long and short term solar transient phenomena, and the study of the trapped radiation at higher geomagnetic cutoff.