FIRST experiment upstream detectors performance on GSI 400 MeV/u 12C beam

The FIRST (Fragmentation of Ions Relevant for Space and Therapy) experiment at GSI has been designed to determine carbon fragmentation measuring
¹²
C double differential cross section (∂
²
σ/∂θ∂E) for different energies between 100 and 1000 MeV/u. The experimental setup integrates already existing and some newly designed detectors in the, so called, interaction region around the graphite target. The interaction region upstream detectors are a 250 μm thick scintillator and a drift chamber optimized for a precise measurement of the beam interaction time and impinging point on the target. In this article we review the design of the upstream detectors together with the preliminary results of the data taking performed on August 2011 with 400 MeV/u fully stripped carbon ion beam at GSI. Detectors performances will be reviewed and compared to the ones obtained during preliminary test, performed on 500 MeV electrons (at the BTF facility in the INFN Frascati Laboratories) and on 80 MeV/u protons and carbon ions (at the INFN LNS Laboratories in Catania).