Control and acquisition system of a space instrument for cosmic ray measurement

The PESCA Instrument Control and Acquisition System (PICAS) design, buildin g and tests are presented. The purpose of the PESCA instrument is the study of the Solar Energetic Particles and the Anomalous Cosmic Rays. It is, the refore, a satellite on-board instrument. The PICAS is basically a computer. composed of a microprocessor with a memory block and a set of interfaces f or the communication with the rest of the instrument and the satellite. The PICAS manages all the comunication processes with the satellite, that comp rises the order reception from the ground station, and the telemetry sendin g, that includes scientific data and housekeeping data. By means of telecom mands, the PICAS is completely controllable from the ground. The PICAS is a lso a reliable data acquisition system that guarantees the correct receptio n of the Cosmic Rays data collected in the ground. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scienc e B.V. All rights reserved.