Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere

Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM ) is a NASA satellite monitoring of noctilucent clouds. The creation and modification of these highest clouds is the focus of research. AIM was launched on 25 April 2007 at 20:26 UTC with a Pegasus -XL and orbits the Earth in a polar orbit. After the start of the 90th satellite was given the additional designation Explorer The operation was originally scheduled by June 2009, but has since been extended to 30 September 2012.

AIM is headed by the Goddard Space Flight Center of NASA and funded by the SMEX program ( SMall Explorer ). The management of the AIM mission was transferred to the Hampton University in Virginia. Their Center for Atmospheric Sciences is responsible for the experiments of the satellite along with other U.S. universities.

Instruments

Three experiments are on board:

International Designator Pegasus (rocket) Orbital inclination Explorers program University of Colorado Utah State University Explorer 1 Explorer 2 Explorer 3 Explorer 6 Explorer 8 Explorer 11 Explorer 17 Explorer 33 Explorer 35 Cosmic Background Explorer Advanced Composition Explorer CHIPSat Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph
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