Grips consists of a spectrometer cryostat equipped with position-sensitive germanium detectors (3D-GED), and a thick tungsten grid mounted on an eight-meter boom, the multi-pitch rotating modulator…

This is a grant award from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to the Regents of the University of California, doing business as the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley). The $431,144.20 grant provides funding for UC Berkeley to 1) refurbish the recently returned GRIPS high-altitude balloon payload, 2) evaluate replacing the current Germanium Electron Detectors (GEDs) with newer models, and 3) complete validation of GRIPS's X-ray imaging capabilities using radioactive sources. GRIPS, a cryogenically-cooled spectrometer and rotating modulator payload, successfully completed its maiden flight from Antarctica, recording major electron precipitation events but no substantial solar flares. This grant supports further development of the GRIPS concept and prepares for the next version and a potential future spacecraft implementation. The award does not utilize a set-aside designation. UC Berkeley, the prime recipient, is a public research university that regularly receives federal contract and grant awards from agencies like NASA and the Department of Defense to conduct scientific research.

Grips consists of a spectrometer cryostat equipped with position-sensitive germanium detectors (3D-GED), and a thick tungsten grid mounted on an eight-meter boom, the multi-pitch rotating modulator (mprm). As a high altitude balloon payload, grips recently successfully completed its maiden flight from antarctica. During the flight, two major electron precipitation events, each lasting several hours, were recorded in the 3D-GED and in the BGO anti-coincidence shields. However, only small to medium solar flares occurred during the flight, and none produced enough counts to be imaged by grips. At the end of the flight, all data vaults were promptly recovered, but the rest of the payload had to spend the antarctic winter on the ICE. In order to finalize the validation of the grips concept, and in preparation for its next iteration and a future spacecraft version, we seek funding to: 1) refurbish the recently returned from antarctica grips equipment; 2) evaluate the possibility of replacing the current grips GED asics by newer ones recently developed by the naval research laboratory (NRL); 3) complete the validation of grips's x-RAY imaging capabilities by exposing the grid and detector assembly to radioactive sources, for both sets of asics.