~ Pergamon www.elsevier.corrdlocate/asr PII: S0273-1177(02)00625-7 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com SCIENCE ~DIRECT • THE SMALL SATELLITE NINA-MITA TO STUDY GALACTIC AND SOLAR COSMIC RAYS IN LOW-ALTITUDE POLAR ORBIT G. Furano 1, V. Bidoli 1, M. Casolino 1, M.P. De Pascale 1, A. Iannucci 1, A. Morselli 1, P. Picozza 1, E. Reali 1, R. Sparvoli 1, A. Bakaldin 2, A. Galper 2, M. Koldashov 2, M. Korotkov 2, A. Leonov2, V. Mikhailov 2, A. Murashov 2, S. Voronov2, G. Mazzenga 3, M. Ricci 3, G. Castellini 4, M. Barbiellini 5, M. Boezio5, V. Bonvicini 5, R. Cirami 5, A. Vacchi 5, N. Zampa 5, M. Ambriola s, R. Bellotti 6, F. Cafagna 6, F. Ciacio 6, M. Circella 6, C. De Marzo 6, O. Adriani 7, P. Papini 7, S Piccardi 7, P. Spillantini z ~ Dept of Physics, Univ. of Rome, Tot Vergata and INFN Roma 2, Rome, Italy 2Moscow Engineering and Physics Institute, Moscow, Russia 3L.N.F. - INFN, Frascati (Rome), Italy 4IROE of CNR, Florence, Italy 5Dept of Physics, Univ. of Trieste and INFN, Trieste, Italy 6Dept of Physics, Univ. of Bari and INFN, Bari, Italy 7 Dept of Physics, Univ. of Florence and INFN, Firenze, Italy ABSTRACT The satellite MITA, carrying on board the scientific payload NINA-2, was launched on July the 15th, 2000 from the cosmodrome of Plesetsk (Russia) with a Cosmos-3M rocket. The satellite and the payload are currently operating within nominal parameters. NINA-2 is the first scientific payload for the technological flight of the Italian small satellite MITA. The detector used in this mission is identical to the one already flying on the Russian satellite Resurs-O1 n.4 in a 840-kin sun-synchronous orbit, but makes use of the extensive computer and telemetry capabilities of MITA bus to improve the active data acquisition time. NINA physics objectives are to study cosmic nuclei from hydrogen to iron in the energy range between 10 MeV/n and 1 GeV/n during the years 2000-2003, that is the solar maximum period. The device is capable of charge identification up to iron with isotope sensitivity up to oxigen. The 87.3 degrees, 460 km altitude polar orbit allows investigations of cosmic rays of solar and galactic origin, so to study long and short term solar transient phenomena, and the study of the trapped radiation at higher geomagnetic cutoff. © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd on behalf of COSPAR. INTRODUCTION The Italian satellite MITA (Minisatellite Italiano a Tecnologia Avauzata - Italian Advanced Technology Minisatellite) was launched with a Cosmos rocket from the cosmodrome of Plesetsk on July the 15 th, 2000. This launch, ~401 for the Cosmos vector, carried also the German satellite CHAMP and the payload BIRD- RUBIN (Figure 1). NINA-2 is the scientific payload of MITA and continues the observations begun with the first NINA telescope, launched in 1998 on board the Russian Resurs-O1 n.4 satellite. These detectors were realized and launched in space by the WiZard - RIM international collaboration, composed by INFN (Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics), MEPHI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), and other universities and institutions (see also Sparvoli et al., 2000). In parallel to the NINA launches, two devices employing the same detector technology - RIM/SilEye experiments, Bidoli et al., 2000 - were placed on board the MIR Space Station to study radiation related effects in that environment. The detector NINA-2 is identical to the NINA one but, making use of the extensive computer and telemetry capabilities of MITA, it will improve the active data acquisition time. NINA-2 will study charged cosmic ray Adv. SpaceRes. Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 351-356, 2003 © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd on behalf of COSPAR Printed in Great Britain 0273-1177/03 $22.00 + 0.00