New research funding to improve performance of space detectors

Researchers at The Open University (OU) have received just over £800,000 to lead a team improving the performance of space detectors for future missions.

Led by Principal Investigator, Dr David Hall, Senior Lecturer in Physical Sciences in the OU’s Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, the two-year project is to continue the development of the detectors for the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer, or SMILE, a joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). SMILE aims to build a more complete understanding of the Sun-Earth connection by measuring the solar wind and its dynamic interaction with the magnetosphere.

The OU is part of the instrument consortium developing the Soft X-ray Imager for the SMILE spacecraft. In this role, researchers at the OU have informed the development of the bespoke detectors to optimise them for soft X-ray performance, so that they resist radiation and take better pictures in space.

The OU’s main collaborators are Leicester University (leading on the instrument) and Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, part of a wider collaboration between ESA and CAS.

Dr Hall said:

“Detailed radiation environment modelling and the testing and calibration of the related effects in the detectors are vital components for all missions to consider. The development and furthering of local expertise in this area may provide an input to many future missions for UK scientists and consequently UK industry.”

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