HERD

The HERD (High Energy Cosmic Radiation Detection) detector is one of the experiments onboard the China’s Space Station, planned to be launched and assembled in the second half of the 2020.
The main science objectives of HERD are indirect detection of dark matter particle, study of cosmic ray composition and high energy gamma-ray observations. The main constraints imposed on HERD are: total weight less than around 2 tons and total power consumption less than around 2 kilowatts.

The HERD Pavia group is committed in the following areas:

• Development of a prototype of a Plastic Scintillator Detector (PSD) as veto and as a trigger for HERD
• Commissioning of the beam test at CERN and at CNAO
• Analysis and simulation software for the beam test