Next-Generation Solar Neutron Tracking Instrument (SONTRAC)

The goal of the SOlar Neutron TRACking (SONTRAC) two-year follow-on program is to advance the current instrument development to provide a fully-integrated neutron spectrometer that demonstrates suitability for SmallSAT opportunities. Neutrons play a significant role in space exploration and the science of the Moon and Sun. Solar eruptive events are known to produce secondaries in the form of γ rays, X-rays, and neutrons. While γ rays have been detected for decades by various missions, the detection and measurement of solar neutrons has been much more elusive. Yet, neutron measurements from 20-150 MeV complement high and low γ-ray measurements and fill the decade-wide energy gap (30-300 MeV) in the accelerated proton spectrum, providing a critical missing piece in understanding the production mechanisms of energetic particles at the Sun and the hazardous space weather events spawned by such particles. On the moon, broadband neutron spectroscopy (covering thermal, epithermal, and fast neutrons) can be used as a probe of regolith composition and in-situ resource utilization, including the localization of water--ice. A lunar-based solar neutron observatory would benefit from the long lunar day, with extended observations of the Sun, resulting in an uninterrupted duty cycle for solar measurements. Furthermore, such a lunar-based observatory would also serve as a critical monitor of the fast component of lunar albedo neutrons, a particularly hazardous form of radiation for astronauts and space assets. Albedo neutrons are also produced in the Earth's atmosphere and planetary atmospheres as part of CRAND. Improved knowledge of atmospheric neutrons themselves, including spatial and temporal variations, will be valuable, because neutron-induced single event upsets in avionics systems are a concern. Finally, solar neutrons may play a key role in exoplanet habitability. While solar energetic particles have long been considered an important factor in supplying the necessary energy to drive atmospheric chemistry in the early Earth, breaking up the constituents into the initial building blocks of life, neutrons also contribute a significant dose to planetary atmospheres/surfaces. Assessing its significance requires improved observations of solar neutrons and that can be used to constrain flare models. The SOlar Neutron TRACking (SONTRAC) concept is based on particle tracking that supplants the traditional double-scatter technique and allows coverage over a broad range in energy. Furthermore, the efficiency is greatly amplified because of the large solid angle factor for a second scatter within the same detector as opposed to a separate detector ~1 m away in a double scatter format. SONTRAC is comprised of plastic-scintillator fiber bundles read out by commercially available high-resolution, fine-grain silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) that easily fit within CubeSat or deep-space envelopes. Preliminary beam results of SONTRAC demonstrate its feasibility while also pointing to important design upgrades that constituted the primary focus of the HTIDS22 development. This follow-on proposes to complete the next-generation SONTRAC and raise the TRL to 6. In addition, at the end of this proposed work, SONTRAC could be considered for a technology demonstration as part of a hosted payload. The primary science motivation is to measure solar neutrons, a game-changing measurement, opening up a relatively unexplored radiation channel, that would lead to a significantly improved understanding of particle acceleration at the Sun. We address the following science questions: 1) do solar flares typically exhibit prolonged acceleration, 2) how are the impulsive and extended phases of flares related, and 3) what is the maximum particle energy for a given flare and how do long duration γ-ray flares evolve?

Support NASA's Heliophysics strategic science objectives to understand the Sun and its interactions with Earth and the solar system, including space weather. This will be achieved by developing/demonstrating instrumentation technology necessary to address the following science goals: Explore the physical processes in the space environment from the Sun to the Earth and throughout the solar system; Advance our understanding of the connections that link the Sun, the Earth, planetary space environments, and the outer reaches of our solar system; Develop the knowledge and capability to detect and predict extreme conditions in space to protect life and society and to safeguard human and robotic explorers beyond Earth.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

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