Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics

Scientists from the Department of Electronics and Software of the Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics of the Czech Technical University completed the international project Penetrating Particle ANalyser (PAN) in 2024. Its goal was to develop a unique particle detector that will measure energy and particles in the energy range from 500 MeV/n to 20 GeV/n on space missions. The facility is being created by the joint efforts of IEAP in Prague, the University of Geneva in Switzerland and the Italian Istituto Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare.

"We are going to send a device using the principle of a magnetic spectrometer, which will measure energy in space and distinguish types of ions, to the Moon in the near future. The PAN spectrometer will include pixel detectors based on Timepix 4, which will be completely developed at IEAP. We will also participate in the development of software for on-board data processing, which enables data compression and facilitates downloading from orbit," says Jindřich Jelínek, who is involved in the project as part of his doctoral studies after returning from the University of Cambridge.

Similar detectors are already in use in space, but they only work in low Earth orbit, while nothing like this has traveled outside the Earth's magnetosphere, into deep space. Thanks to the pioneering work of IEAP scientists and their foreign colleagues from the PAN project, we can look forward to an innovative device that will be unique on a global scale.

The detector will measure the spectrum of galactic cosmic particles that come to us from deep space, but also solar flares – i.e. to monitor the "space weather" to which electronics and astronauts are exposed in space.

Negotiations are currently underway with ESA to send the PAN detector as part of the LunPAN mission to lunar orbit. The satellite itself is being developed by the Belgian company AEROSPACELAB, and Italian colleagues from Politecnico di Milano are optimizing the satellite's orbit.

"We are in negotiations with ESA at the 'Prephase A' stage – we are preparing a conceptual study, which must include a sophisticated proposal and an idea of our next steps supported by simulations and calculations. If we succeed with ESA's mission, we will have the opportunity to develop a more sophisticated prototype that we can offer to space missions around the world. The data obtained will not only allow us to better understand the properties of cosmic rays, but will also provide us with information about radiation risks for future lunar research missions," concludes Jindřich Jelínek.