SPACEDOS dosimeter from the NPI became a part of the Cosmos Discovery exhibition

14. 09. 2020

The Cosmos Discovery exhibition in Pavilion E at the Exhibition Grounds in Prague's Holešovice has been extended until October 31st, 2020. Now, it also includes the SPACEDOS dosimeter, developed by the Department of Radiation Dosimetry (DRD) of NPI. It is designed to detect cosmic ray particles and estimate the radiation dose received on board satellites.

The organizer of the exhibition, JVS Group company, presented a renewed part of the exhibition to journalists on September 10th. The renewed part replaced the first Czechoslovak satellite Magion with new Czech space programs. Prof. Ondřej Santolík from the Department of Space Physics of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) of the CAS presented the entire program of the Strategy AV21 program Space for Mankind and mentioned, among other things, the flight of the Taranis spacecraft planned for November 2020.

Then, Martin Kákona from DRD NPI introduced the SPACEDOS dosimeter itself: a cosmic ray detector. Its prototype was created in a gallows period of three months after the offer of Moscow M. I. Lomonosov State University (MSU) at the end of 2018. MSU offered DRD the opportunity to participate in a space mission led by MSU and send this device into space. It was realized within the Socrat-R satellite (cubesat), created in cooperation between NPI, FNSPE CTU, the Czech company esc Aerospace and the Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics MSU. DRD, however, has already worked on the use of active detectors to complement the radiation measurements to previously used passive detectors. SPACEDOS was built on the Bulgarian technology originally used on the Mir Space Station, which DRD scientists have previously used and refined for their work. In addition to the exhibited prototype, Martin Kákona also presented the resulting device, which completed a space flight. The SPACEDOS dosimeter is also used in the CRREAT project (led by NPI) in which the IAP Department of Space Physics also participates. A new leaflet about SPACEDOS and the targets of the Socrat-R satellite is now available to visitors of the Cosmos Discovery exhibition.

Prototype of the SPACEDOS dosimeter at the Cosmos Discovery exhibition

Prototype of the SPACEDOS dosimeter at the Cosmos Discovery exhibition

A representative of the Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic, which coordinates the Czech space program, recalled the newly announced tender of the European Space Agency worth over a billion CZK and an information workshop on the Czech space program, which the ministry will organize online on 15 September. The event was closed by a contribution of Pavel Suchan from the Astronomical Institute of the CAS, who brought with him several interesting samples related to the topic.

The exhibition on more than 2000 m2 presented also the history of manned spaceflight from its beginnings to current and planned missions. The very professionally prepared exposition was created in cooperation with NASA (USA), the Cosmosphere Museum and Education Center, and Czech experts. It contains several hundred original exhibits from the USA and Russia, a collection of spacesuits and real models of spaceships, space shuttles, and rockets, including control and landing modules in a 1: 1 scale.

SPACEDOS dosimeter from the NPI became a part of the Cosmos Discovery exhibition

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