The Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity, operating on the surface of Mars, is exposed to radiation fluxes from above and below. Galactic Cosmic Rays travel through the Martian atmosphere, producing a modified spectrum consisting of both primary and secondary particles at ground level. These particles produce an upward directed secondary particle spectrum as they interact with the Martian soil. Here we develop a method to distinguish the upward and downward directed particle fluxes in the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) instrument, verify it using data taken during the cruise to Mars, and apply it to data taken on the Martian surface. We use a combination of Geant4 and Planetocosmics modeling to find discrimination criteria for the flux directions. After developing models of the cruise phase and surface shielding conditions, we compare model‐predicted values for the ratio of upward to downward flux with those found in RAD observation data. Given the quality of available information on Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft and rover composition, we find generally reasonable agreement between our models and RAD observation data. This demonstrates the feasibility of the method developed and tested here. We additionally note that the method can also be used to extend the measurement range and capabilities of the RAD instrument to higher energies.

The energetic particle environment on the Martian surface is influenced by solar and heliospheric modulation and changes in the local atmospheric pressure (or column depth). The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) on board the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity on the surface of Mars has been measuring this effect for over four Earth years (about two Martian years). The anticorrelation between the recorded surface Galactic Cosmic Ray-induced dose rates and pressure changes has been investigated by Rafkin et al. (2014) and the long-term solar modulation has also been empirically analyzed and modeled by Guo et al. (2015). This paper employs the newly updated HZETRN2015 code to model the Martian atmospheric shielding effect on the accumulated dose rates and the change of this effect under different solar modulation and atmospheric conditions. The modeled results are compared with the most up-to-date (from 14 August 2012 to 29 June 2016) observations of the RAD instrument on the surface of Mars. Both model and measurements agree reasonably well and show the atmospheric shielding effect under weak solar modulation conditions and the decline of this effect as solar modulation becomes stronger. This result is important for better risk estimations of future human explorations to Mars under different heliospheric and Martian atmospheric conditions.

The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) on board the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover has been measuring the radiation environment in Gale crater on Mars since August, 2012. These first in-situ measurements provide an important data set for assessing the radiation-associated health risks for future manned missions to Mars. Mainly, the radiation field on the Martian surface stems from Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) and secondary particles created by the GCRs’ interactions with the Martian atmosphere and soil. RAD is capable of measuring differential particle fluxes for lower-energy ions and isotopes of hydrogen and helium (up to hundreds of MeV/nuc). Additionally, RAD also measures integral particle fluxes for higher energies of these ions. Besides providing insight on the current Martian radiation environment, these fluxes also present an essential input for particle transport codes that are used to model the radiation to be encountered during future manned missions to Mars. Comparing simulation results with actual ground-truth measurements helps to validate these transport codes and identify potential areas of improvements in the underlying physics of these codes. At the First Mars Radiation Modeling Workshop (June 2016 in Boulder, CO), different groups of modelers were asked to calculate the Martian surface radiation environment for the time of November 15, 2015 to January 15, 2016. These model results can then be compared with in-situ measurements of MSL/RAD conducted during the same time frame. In this publication, we focus on presenting the charged particle fluxes measured by RAD between November 15, 2015 and January 15, 2016, providing the necessary data set for the comparison to model outputs from the modeling workshop. We also compare the fluxes to initial GCR intensities, as well as to RAD measurements from an earlier time period (August 2012 to January 2013). Furthermore, we describe how changes and updates in RAD on board processing and the on ground analysis tools effect and improve the flux calculations. An in-depth comparison of modeling results from the workshop and RAD fluxes of this publication is presented elsewhere in this issue (Matthiä et al., 2017).

The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD), onboard the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity, has been measuring the energetic charged and neutral particles and the radiation dose rate on the surface of Mars since the landing of the rover in August 2012. In contrast to charged particles, neutral particles (neutrons and γ-rays) are measured indirectly: the energy deposition spectra produced by neutral particles are complex convolutions of the incident particle spectra with the detector response functions. An inversion technique has been developed and applied to jointly unfold the deposited energy spectra measured in two scintillators of different types (CsI for high γ detection efficiency, and plastic for neutrons) to obtain the neutron and γ-ray spectra. This result is important for determining the biological impact of the Martian surface radiation contributed by neutrons, which interact with materials differently from the charged particles. These first in-situ measurements on Mars provide (1) an important reference for assessing the radiation-associated health risks for future manned missions to the red planet and (2) an experimental input for validating the particle transport codes used to model the radiation environments within spacecraft or on the surface of planets. Here we present neutral particle spectra as well as the corresponding dose and dose equivalent rates derived from RAD measurement during a period (November 15, 2015 to January 15, 2016) for which the surface particle spectra have been simulated via different transport models.

Jupiter possesses the harshest trapped radiation environment in the solar system. Models of the Jovian-trapped radiation environment are a prerequisite for planning missions to this extreme environment. The high energy (>0.1 MeV for electrons and >1 MeV/nuc for protons and heavier ions) particle environment drives the shielding and microelectronic parts design for a spacecraft. Recently, models based on the measurements by the Galileo energetic particle detector and heavy ion counter have been updated for the trapped protons and heavy ions. The purpose of this paper is to describe these changes to the proton and heavy ion models and demonstrate their application to and relative impact on mission design. While trapped electrons at Jupiter dominate for total ionizing dose and displacement damage dose for typically shielded parts/materials (e.g., with similar to 100 mil or 2.54 mm of aluminum shielding), trapped protons can be a significant contributor to lightly shielded components (e.g., solar cells under 10-20 mil of cover glass). In contrast, although they will be described here for completeness, the Jovian-trapped heavy ions are typically not a driving environmental consideration for single event effects evaluations (their energies are so low that a small amount of shielding will attenuate the fluxes to levels below the interplanetary solar energetic particle and galactic cosmic rays).

The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD), on board the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity, measures the energetic charged and neutral particles and the radiation dose rate on the surface of Mars. Although charged and neutral particle spectra have been investigated in detail, the electron and positron spectra have not been investigated yet. The reason for that is that they are difficult to separate from each other and because of the technical challenges involved in extracting energy spectra from the raw data. We use GEANT4 to model the behavior of the RAD instrument for electron/positron measurements. We compare Planetocosmics predictions for different atmospheric pressures and different modulation parameters Φ with the obtained RAD electron/positron measurements. We find that the RAD electron/positron measurements agree well with the spectra predicted by Planetocosmics. Both RAD measurements and Planetocosmics simulation show a dependence of the electron/positron fluxes on both atmospheric pressure and solar modulation potential.

Context: The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) has been measuring the radiation environment on the surface of Mars since August 6th 2012. MSL-RAD is the first instrument to provide detailed information about charged and neutral particle spectra and dose rates on the Martian surface, and one of the primary objectives of the RAD investigation is to help improve and validate current radiation transport models.Aims: Applying different numerical transport models with boundary conditions derived from the MSL-RAD environment the goal of this work was to both provide predictions for the particle spectra and the radiation exposure on the Martian surface complementing the RAD sensitive range and, at the same time, validate the results with the experimental data, where applicable. Such validated models can be used to predict dose rates for future manned missions as well as for performing shield optimization studies.Methods: Several particle transport models (GEANT4, PHITS, HZETRN/OLTARIS) were used to predict the particle flux and the corresponding radiation environment caused by galactic cosmic radiation on Mars. From the calculated particle spectra the dose rates on the surface are estimated.Results: Calculations of particle spectra and dose rates induced by galactic cosmic radiation on the Martian surface are presented. Although good agreement is found in many cases for the different transport codes, GEANT4, PHITS, and HZETRN/OLTARIS, some models still show large, sometimes order of magnitude discrepancies in certain particle spectra. We have found that RAD data is helping to make better choices of input parameters and physical models. Elements of these validated models can be applied to more detailed studies on how the radiation environment is influenced by solar modulation, Martian atmosphere and soil, and changes due to the Martian seasonal pressure cycle. By extending the range of the calculated particle spectra with respect to the experimental data additional information about the radiation environment is gained, and the contribution of different particle species to the dose is estimated.

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) started its 253-day cruise to Mars on November 26, 2011. During cruise the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD), situated on board the Curiosity rover, conducted measurements of the energetic-particle radiation environment inside the spacecraft. This environment consists mainly of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), as well as secondary particles created by interactions of these GCRs with the spacecraft. The RAD measurements can serve as a proxy for the radiation environment a human crew would encounter during a transit to Mars, for a given part of the solar cycle, assuming that a crewed vehicle would have comparable shielding. The measurements of radiological quantities made by RAD are important in themselves, and, the same data set allow for detailed analysis of GCR-induced particle spectra inside the spacecraft. This provides important inputs for the evaluation of current transport models used to model the free-space (and spacecraft) radiation environment for different spacecraft shielding and different times in the solar cycle. Changes in these conditions can lead to significantly different radiation fields and, thus, potential health risks, emphasizing the need for validated transport codes. Here, we present the first measurements of charged particle fluxes inside a spacecraft during the transit from Earth to Mars. Using data obtained during the last two month of the cruise to Mars (June 11–July 14, 2012), we have derived detailed energy spectra for low-Z particles stopping in the instrument’s detectors, as well as integral fluxes for penetrating particles with higher energies. Furthermore, we analyze the temporal changes in measured proton fluxes during quiet solar periods (i.e., when no solar energetic particle events occurred) over the duration of the transit (December 9, 2011–July 14, 2012) and correlate them with changing heliospheric conditions.

The Radiation Assessment Detector, RAD, is one of the ten instruments that make up the science payload of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover. RAD is an energetic particle detector, capable of measuring the charged and neutral particles that make significant contributions to the radiation dose that will be received by future human explorers when they visit Mars. Prior to the launch of MSL in November 2011, RAD and its near-identical twin flight spare unit were calibrated using laboratory sources, charged particle beams, and neutron fields. The initial calibration parameters obtained in these tests were used for real-time data analysis by the instrument’s onboard software. These parameters have subsequently been refined using data obtained during the cruise to Mars and during Curiosity’s mission on the surface of Mars. The most critical use of calibration is in the dosimetry analysis performed onboard. Calibration is also used in onboard analysis to determine which events should be stored for telemetry to Earth. Accelerator data obtained with the flight spare unit after Curiosity was launched provide detailed information about the response of the organic and inorganic scintillators to ion beams over a wide range of charge and energy. Here we report on the methods used to determine calibration parameters, the results obtained, as well as providing an overview of the modifications to the instrument’s software and configuration that have been made over the course of the mission.

Meslin 1 , C. Zeitlin 2 , D. M. Hassler 2,3 , R. F. Wimmer-Schweingruber 4 , B. Ehresmann 2 , J. Guo 4 , S. Böttcher 4 , J. Köhler 4 , D. E. Brinza 5 . 1 IRAP, Univ. Paul Sabatier, OMP/CNRS, 31400 Toulouse, France (pmeslin at irap.omp.eu). 2 Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, USA, 3 Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, Univ. Paris-Sud, Orsay, France. 4 Institute for Experimental and Applied Physics, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Kiel, Germany. 5 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA.

Aims. To predict the cruise radiation environment related to future human missions to Mars, the correlation between solar modulation potential and the dose rate measured by the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) has been analyzed and empirical models have been employed to quantify this correlation.Methods. The instrument RAD, onboard Mars Science Laboratory's (MSL) rover Curiosity, measures a broad spectrum of energetic particles along with the radiation dose rate during the 253-day cruise phase as well as on the surface of Mars. With these first ever measurements inside a spacecraft from Earth to Mars, RAD observed the impulsive enhancement of dose rate during solar particle events as well as a gradual evolution of the galactic cosmic ray (GCR) induced radiation dose rate due to the modulation of the primary GCR flux by the solar magnetic field, which correlates with long-term solar activities and heliospheric rotation.Results. We analyzed the dependence of the dose rate measured by RAD on solar modulation potentials and estimated the dose rate and dose equivalent under different solar modulation conditions. These estimations help us to have approximate predictions of the cruise radiation environment, such as the accumulated dose equivalent associated with future human missions to Mars.Conclusions. The predicted dose equivalent rate during solar maximum conditions could be as low as one-fourth of the current RAD cruise measurement. However, future measurements during solar maximum and minimum periods are essential to validate our estimations.

The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD), on board Mars Science Laboratory's (MSL) rover Curiosity, measures the energy spectra of both energetic charged and neutral particles along with the radiation dose rate at the surface of Mars. With these first-ever measurements on the Martian surface, RAD observed several effects influencing the galactic cosmic-ray (GCR) induced surface radiation dose concurrently: (a) short-term diurnal variations of the Martian atmospheric pressure caused by daily thermal tides, (b) long-term seasonal pressure changes in the Martian atmosphere, and (c) the modulation of the primary GCR flux by the heliospheric magnetic field, which correlates with long-term solar activity and the rotation of the Sun. The RAD surface dose measurements, along with the surface pressure data and the solar modulation factor, are analyzed and fitted to empirical models that quantitatively demonstrate how the long-term influences ((b) and (c)) are related to the measured dose rates. Correspondingly, we can estimate dose rate and dose equivalents under different solar modulations and different atmospheric conditions, thus allowing empirical predictions of the Martian surface radiation environment.