Determination of high-altitude distribution variations of the muon component of secondary cosmic rays by the scintillation method using a CubeSat 3U stratospheric satellite

This paper presents the results of the development and experimental implementation of a method for determining the variations in the altitude distribution of the muon component of secondary cosmic rays using a CubeSat 3U stratospheric satellite equipped with a plastic scintillator detector. The distribution of the intensity of the muon component of SCR in the altitude range up to 23.4 km has been obtained. The main maximum of the counting rate, which was 1270 imp/min, was recorded at an altitude of 17 km. The second local variation of the counting rate (820 imp/min) was detected at an altitude of 13.7 km. The recorded variations in intensity are interpreted as a result of the local generation of wide-area atmospheric showers.

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