New design aspects for an energetic particle telescope for space missions

Describes new aspects which have been achieved in designing a charged particle dE/dx-E telescope to be flown on the International Solar Polar Mission. The instrument is designed to measure and resolve masses up to iron at energies above 100 keV per nucleon. Weight restrictions and radiation damage considerations led to new solutions for the overall system design and specific components. Beside radiation-resistant amplifiers, an analog-OR, a sample-and-hold circuit, and an extremely low power threshold discriminator have been developed. Power strobing of a fast ADC is another novel aspect of a `classical´ measuring technique.