CR-39 Plastic Track Detector Experiment for Measurement of Charge Composition of Primary Cosmic Rays

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A study of the relative abundances and energy spectra of heavy cosmic rays and isotopic composition in the region of Fe peak can yield significant information concerning their origin, acceleration and interstellar propagation. In recent years solid state nuclear track detectors have been employed extensively to study heavy primary cosmic rays. Plastic track detectors necessarily have large geometric factors for heavy primaries, and a continuous sensitivity for the duration of an extended exposure. A balloon-borne experiment consisting of 1 m² passive detector array has been designed in order to obtain charge and energy spectra of primary cosmic rays in the region of Fe peak. Included in the array is a new type of nuclear-track-recording plastic, a polymer made from the monomer allyl diglycol carbonate (commercially known as CR-39). The stack was built as a set of nine modules. Three types of stack assembly was adopted for these modules: one consisting of ‘pure’ CR-39 plastic track detector: the next one, a composite assembly of CR-39 with three layers of 600 micron thick nuclear emulsions: and the last one with CR-39 and Lexan Polycarbonate. The payload was flown successfully in June 1979 from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. The flight was aloft for 3 hours 30 min at an average ceiling of 3 gm/cm² of residual atmosphere. An attempt to stabilize and orient the payload utilizing a biaxial magnetometer combined with and electrical rotator was unsuccessful. The failure to orient the payload in a stable position would prevent us from determining the true direction of each cosmic ray particle and trace it backwards through the earth's magnetic field using a computer tracing program. Recovery of the payload was routine and all materials were in perfect condition.