The AGILE Data Handling In-Flight Performance

AGILE is a Small Scientific Mission dedicated to high-energy astrophysics supported by the Italian Space Agency. AGILE was successfully launched on April 23, 2007 from the Indian base of Sriharikota and was inserted in an optimal low-particle background equatorial orbit. The AGILE instrument, highly innovative and designed to detect and image photons in the 30MeV–50GeV and 18–60keV energy bands, is composed by four scientific detectors: a Tungsten-Silicon Tracker, a CsI Mini-Calorimeter, a Silicon based X-ray imager and an anticoincidence system for particle background rejection. Moreover, the Payload is completed by a Power Supply Unit (PSU) and a Payload Data Handling Unit (PDHU) and by three ancillary sub-systems (a GPS receiver and two Star Sensors). The PDHU is in charge of the Payload sub-systems control, the operational modes management, the Telemetry and Telecommands management and is optimized for fast on-board processing of the scientific data. The scientific data processing involves a complex and flexible gamma-ray photons filtering, the X-ray photon-by-photon data acquisition and a Burst acquisition logic able to detect the transients on different timescales and perform an on-board Burst coordinates determination. The HW and SW design and implementation were carried out by Thales Alenia Space Italia - Milano. The main features of the PDHU will be presented and discussed as well as the obtained in-flight performance.