The EUSO@TurLab: Test of Mini-EUSO Engineering Model

TL;DR

The paper reports on tests of the Mini-EUSO Engineering Model at TurLab, evaluating its performance for space-based cosmic ray observation, space debris monitoring, and imaging applications, demonstrating its versatility and readiness for future missions.

Contribution

It presents the first comprehensive testing of the Mini-EUSO Engineering Model in a laboratory setting simulating space observation conditions, including trigger logic validation and multi-application potential.

Findings

Successful validation of trigger logics (L1 and L2) in laboratory conditions.

Demonstrated potential for space debris monitoring using Mini-EUSO.

Versatile application of Mini-EUSO for cosmic rays and imaging tasks.

Abstract

The TurLab facility is a laboratory, equipped with a 5 m diameter and 1 m depth rotating tank, located in the Physics Department of the University of Turin. Originally, it was mainly built to study systems of different scales where rotation plays a key role in the fluid behavior such as in atmospheric and oceanic flows. In the past few years the TurLab facility has been used to perform experiments related to the observation of Extreme Energy Cosmic Rays (EECRs) from space using the fluorescence technique. For example, in the case of the JEM-EUSO mission, where the diffuse night brightness and artificial light sources can vary significantly in time and space inside the Field of View of the telescope. The Focal Surface of Mini-EUSO Engineering Model (Mini-EUSO EM) with the level 1 (L1) and 2 (L2) trigger logics implemented in the Photo-Detector Module (PDM) has been tested at TurLab. Tests related to the possibility of using an EUSO-like detector for other type of applications such as Space Debris (SD) monitoring and imaging detector have also been pursued. The tests and results obtained within the EUSO@TurLab Project on these different topics are presented.