Approaching the knee with direct measurements

• Published in: Nuclear Physics B - Proceedings Supplements
• Main Authors: Seo, E.S., Ahn, H.S., Allison, P., Bagliesi, M.G., Barbier, L., Barrau, A., Bazer-Bachi, R., Beatty, J.J., Bigongiari, G., Boyle, P., Brandt, T.T., Buénerd, M., Childers, J.T., Conklin, N.B., Coutu, S., Derome, L., Duvernois, M.A., Ganel, O., Han, J.H., Jeon, J.A., Kim, K.C., Lee, M.H., Lutz, L., Malinin, A., Mangin-Brinet, M., Marrocchesi, P.S., Maestro, P., Menchaca-Rocha, A., Minnick, S., Mognet, S.I., Nam, S.W., Nutter, S., Park, I.H., Park, N.H., Putze, A., Sallaz-Damaz, Y., Sina, R., Swordy, S., Wakely, S., Walpole, P., Wu, J., Yang, J., Yoon, Y.S., Zei, R., Zinn, S.Y.
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie (LPSC), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble (INPG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre d'étude spatiale des rayonnements (CESR), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), K.S. Cheng, R. Engel, Y.Q. Ma, B. Pattison, Z.G. Yao and Q.Q. Zhu, CREAM
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2006
• Subjects: [PHYS.ASTR.CO]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Cosmology and Extra-Galactic Astrophysics [astro-ph.CO]; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://hal.in2p3.fr/in2p3-00308725; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nuclphysbps.2007.10.025

International audience The Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM) experiment was designed and constructed to push spectral measurements of individual cosmic-ray nuclei from H to Fe to energies approaching the “knee” in a series of balloon flights. A cumulative exposure of 70 days was achieved during two circumpolar flights in Antarctica in 2005 and 2006. Direct measurements at the top of the atmosphere allow event-by-event determination of the incident cosmic-ray particle charge and energy. The objective is to investigate whether and how the knee structure is related to the mechanisms of particle acceleration, propagation, and confinement. The recovered payload is being refurbished for its third flight, which is scheduled for launch in December 2007. The combination of sophisticated particle detectors and long duration balloon flight capabilities now promise high quality measurements over an energy range that was not previously accessible.