Onset Times of Solar Particle Events Observed by MSL/RAD - Constraints on Particle Transport

En route to Mars, Mars Science Laboratory's (MSL's) Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) was already operational and observed a number of solar particle events. These were also seen by an array of spacecraft in the heliosphere. This constellation provides an unique opportunity to investigate particle propagation in the ecliptic plane and thus constrain particle propagation models. RAD measures energetic ions up to approximately 100 MeV/nuc, but was buried deep inside the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). Due to the significant shielding provided by the MSL cruise stage, back-shell, heat shield, and skycrane, RAD was sensitive to particles in a significantly higher and somewhat uncertain energy range. Even behind the aforementioned shielding, onset times of particle events can be clearly identified. In this work, we will provide them for the particle events observed by RAD in 2012. We will also relate them to other data and solar/interplanetary acceleration sites.