Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere
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| Mission type | Atmospheric research |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 2007-015A |
| SATCAT № | 31304 |
| Website | aim |
| Mission duration | 6 years (elapsed) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Bus | LEOStar-2 |
| Launch mass | 197 kilograms (434 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 25 April 2007, 20:26:03 UTC |
| Rocket | Pegasus-XL F38 |
| Launch site | Stargazer, Vandenberg Runway 12/30 |
| Contractor | Orbital Sciences |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Sun-synchronous |
| Semi-major axis | 6,926.82 kilometers (4,304.13 mi) |
| Eccentricity | 0.0005254 |
| Perigee | 552 kilometers (343 mi) |
| Apogee | 559 kilometers (347 mi) |
| Inclination | 97.90 degrees |
| Period | 95.63 minutes |
| RAAN | 159.47 degrees |
| Argument of perigee | 213.55 degrees |
| Mean anomaly | 15.06 degrees |
| Mean motion | 15.06 |
| Epoch | 25 January 2015, 00:23:24 UTC |
| Revolution number | 42,300 |
The Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) is a satellite to conduct a 26-month study of noctilucent clouds (NLCs). It is the ninetieth Explorer program mission and is part of the NASA-funded Small Explorer program (SMEX). On April 25, 2007 AIM was boosted into a 600 km (370 mi) high polar orbit by a Pegasus-XL rocket, which was air-launched from the Lockheed L-1011 Stargazer aircraft operated by Orbital Sciences.
The AIM satellite is a 200 kg (440 lb), 1.4 m (4 ft 7 in) by 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) spacecraft, powered by two solar arrays, carrying three instruments:
The noctilucent clouds AIM is to study, also known as polar mesospheric clouds, occur in the Earth's atmosphere at high altitudes of roughly 80 kilometers (50 mi) above the surface, far higher than other clouds. The AIM mission will help determine what factors — temperature, water vapor, and dust particles — lead to the formation of these clouds. The clouds seem to be a relatively recent phenomenon: they were first seen in 1885, and lately seem to be occurring more frequently. The clouds always occur during the summer season near the poles and the Northern season always starts around the same time. Scientists have found that the start of the Southern season can vary up to a month however.
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