R&D Center for Aerostat System Wins Excellent Team Award for the Construction of LHAASO

A review meeting on the construction of Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) was held in Chengdu on December 24, 2019. The engineering team from the R&D Center for Aerostat System (hereafter called the “Center”) under the Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR) in charge of the engineering and construction of LHAASO project won the Excellent Team Award of 2019.

The Center has undertaken the production, assembly and testing of over 5,000 electromagnetic particle detectors for the LHAASO project. Electromagnetic particle detectors are used to measure secondary electromagnetic particles in EAS. The detection medium is a plastic scintillator, and the light generated by charged particles in the scintillator is collected through wavelength shift optical fibers, conducted to a photomultiplier tube (PMT), and converted into electrical signals for measurement.

The Center exceeded its 2019 annual goal by producing high-qualified electromagnetic particle detectors, which have been used to measure ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECR).

LHAASO, a major national scientific and technological infrastructure project, is listed among the 16 major projects with priority in the Medium- and Long-term Plan for Building of Major National Scientific and Technological Infrastructure (2012-2030) issued by the State Council of China. The core goal of LHAASO is to explore the origin of high-energy cosmic rays and conduct related research on cosmic evolution, high-energy celestial body evolution and dark matter.

A group photo for the review meeting on the construction of LHAASO.