Masa's contributions to Welcome-1

April 1990 - June 1993

I worked on balloon-born hard X-ray detector, Welcome-1 (a prototype of the ASTRO-E Hard X-ray Detector). Three successful flights were made during these years, two launched in Brazil in collaboration with the Brazilian balloon group, and one from the launch site in Japan. My contributions to the project during these years include the following.

• Development of asynchronous data acquisition system for the custom-made VME modules on the real-time operating system OS9; the system was used for tests and measurements in the laboratory for development of the Welcome-1 detector
• Development of data acquisition system for the beam test at KEK (1992); the system included VME modules and CAMAC modules, and was used for performance test of the Welcome-1 detector
• Design and fabrication of the dead-time monitor for Welcome-1
• Design and fabrication of the complete CCD camera system for Welcome-1 (a CCD driver, a read-out board, a camera body, and on-board read-out software) to monitor the attitude of the payload
• Absolute time assignment system using GPS for Welcome-1
• Balloon-flight operation (commanding and monitoring) for three successful balloon flights; two launched in Brazil in collaboration with the Brazilian balloon group, and one in Japan with the Japanese balloon group
• Calibration of energy response of the Welcome-1 detector