Applications: Space
NASA incorporates our Timepix chip module into its ambitious Artemis missions, which aim to return humanity to the Moon.
Artemis I, an uncrewed Moon-orbiting mission, was successfully launched on November 16, 2022. The mission’s primary objective was to conduct a Moon flyby, thereby testing the Orion spacecraft, which included NASA’s Hybrid Electronic Radiation Assessor (HERA). The HERA system, a cutting-edge radiation detector designed by NASA and equipped with ADVACAM’s hybrid pixel detector technology, was fully integrated into the spacecraft.
HERA provided onboard analysis and displayed radiation dose rates, linking to an alarm and warning system that activated when a certain dose rate threshold was reached. The Orion spacecraft spent roughly three weeks in space, with six days dedicated to a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon. It came within approximately 130 km of the lunar surface and achieved a maximum distance from Earth of 432,210 km. Our chip-equipped HERA monitor will also be included in future NASA Moon missions Artemis II and beyond.
