JAXA

The Calorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) has begun collecting data, including high-energy cosmic rays aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

CALET is an observation instrument that has been developed by a group led by Japan’s Waseda Research Institute for Science and Engineering professor Shoji Torii in collaboration with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency).

It was launched on an H-IIB rocket from the Tanegashima Space Centre in southern Japan last August.

For more than two years CALET will remain on the ISS to conduct observations and investigate the mysteries of the universe.

CALET started global leading direct electron observations in the high-energy region of Tera electron volt.

It was installed on the exposed facility of the Japanese experiment module Kibo of the ISS.

CALET is equipped with advanced detectors and electronic technology to perform difficult observations of high-energy electrons, gamma rays, protons and atomic nucleus, and also measures gamma ray burst phenomena.

"For more than two years CALET will remain on the ISS to conduct observations and investigate the mysteries of the universe."

Researchers have been trying to reveal the mysteries of the universe by observing cosmic rays accelerated at supernova explosions and generated by annihilation and decay of dark matter.

Researchers hope to find important clues related to the evolvement of universe through CALET.

Waseda Research Institute for Science and Engineering professor Shoji Torii said: "Since I was a child, I’ve been fascinated by whether there is an edge of the universe and how the universe was formed.

"I’m really looking forward to and excited at the project, thinking that it may unravel the big mysteries of the universe."

Shoji graduated from Kyoto University’s Faculty of Science in 1972, and earned a doctoral degree in science from Kyoto University in 1978.

He was appointed as a researcher at the University of Tokyo Institute for Cosmic Ray Research and also served as a research associate at Utah State University’s Physics Department.

Since 2004, he has been working at the Waseda University faculty of science and engineering. He specialises in cosmic ray physics.

Image: Japan’s Waseda Research Institute for Science and Engineering professor Shoji Torii in collaboration with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) developed CALET. Photo: courtesy of PR Newswire Association.