Project Title

Payload Antarctic Demonstrator for the Advanced Particle-astrophysics Telescope (ADAPT)

Summary

Event Number:
A-126-M
NSF / NASA Agreement

Program Director:
Dr. Marion Dierickx

ASC POC/Implementer:
Marissa Goerke / Kaija Webster / Chad Naughton

Principal Investigator(s)

Dr. James Henry Buckley
buckley@wustl.edu
Physics
St. Louis, Missouri

Project Web Site:
https://adapt.physics.wustl.edu

Location

Supporting Stations: McMurdo Station
Research Locations: McMurdo Long Duration Balloon Facility (LDBF)

Description

The Antarctic Demonstrator for the Advanced Particle-astrophysics Telescope (ADAPT) is primarily a technical demonstrator for a future space-based gamma ray experiment, the Advanced Particle-astrophysics Telescope (APT). APT will provide the most sensitive measurements of the MeV to 100 MeV gamma ray sky for any astrophysical transients during its flight. The APT’s long-term goals include (1) detecting or ruling out weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter; (2) providing electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave or other multi-messenger sources, and (3) understanding the origin of the heavy elements. ADAPT will carry two piggyback payloads: Air Shower Extended Simulations (AIRES), designed to analyze the radio pulses emitted by cosmic rays interacting with Earth's atmosphere; and Integrating Miniature Piggyback for Impulsive Solar Hard X-rays (IMPISH), a solar X-ray spectrometer measuring energy fluctuations during solar flares.

The ADAPT experiment will fly the ADAPT gondola on a 39 million cubic foot (mcf) balloon at the Long Duration Balloon Facility (LDBF) in Antarctica. ADAPT is a 0.5-by-0.5-meter active area telescope for mega-electronvolt (MeV) and giga-electronvolt (GeV) gamma ray detection and cosmic ray measurements. The instrument makes use of scintillating fibers, cesium iodide scintillators, and custom electronics to detect and reconstruct gamma rays through Compton imaging (in the MeV regime) and pair tracking and calorimetry (in the GeV regime). Real-time onboard computation will be used to localize gamma ray bursts and promptly transmit alerts to the ground.

Field Season Overview

Field support required for ADAPT in 2026-27 includes hosting scientists at McMurdo Station (with an office in Albert P. Crary Science and Engineering Center), transportation to the LDBF, and space in one of the two LDBF hangers. Crane operations will also be required to install the detector, solar panel, and antenna boom on the instrument. To satisfy science requirements, ADAPT is aiming for a long (30-day) flight at high altitude to maximize chances for detecting and localizing several gamma ray bursts. The plan is to deploy nine science team members to Antarctica for the flight and approve two to recover the flight computer, data, and piggyback experiments in 2027. The science team is slated to arrive in McMurdo around 3 November 2026 and anticipates no more than 23 days (and possibly many fewer) to prepare for a 30 November launch. The target float altitude is approximately 135 kilofeet, the maximum for a 39 mcf balloon. The minimum flight duration for success is 10 days, while the maximum flight duration would be 50 days, subject to prospects for payload recovery and operational status during the flight. Same-season payload recovery via aircraft, Arctic Trucks, or traverse is requested.

Deploying Team Members