Speaker
Description
The POEMMA Balloon with Radio (PBR) mission represents a fundamental step toward future space-based multi-messenger observatories. It aims to measure ultra-high-energy cosmic-ray showers with energies greater than 10^18 eV, to observe high-altitude horizontal air showers (HAHAs) with energies above the cosmic-ray knee, and to search for very-high-energy neutrinos. It will also serve as a testbed for technologies to be used in future space missions, such as the Probe of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA).
The payload is designed to fly on a NASA Super Pressure Balloon during a suborbital flight over the Southern Ocean. The launch is scheduled from Wanaka, New Zealand, for the 2027 campaign, with a mission duration of up to 50 days. Balloon-borne experiments represent an optimal intermediate approach between ground-based detectors and space-based observatories, thanks to the thin residual atmosphere, which allows the detection of primary particles while maintaining relatively low mission costs compared to satellite missions. PBR will host multiple detection systems, observing a large portion of the atmosphere with a single instrument. In this talk, the detailed mission and the projected performance of the instrument will be presented.