RECORDING MICROMETEOROID AND TECHNOGENIC PARTICLES ON THE EXTERNAL
SURFACE OF THE ISS RUSSIAN SEGMENT SERVICE MODULE (METEOROID)
Research Area: Spacecraft and Orbital Environments
Expedition(s): 2-13
Principal Investigator(s): ● Vyacheslav G. Sokolov, S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space
Corporation Energia, Moscow, Russia
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Recording Micrometeoroid and Technogenic Particle on the
External Surface of the ISS Russian Segment Service Module
(Meteoroid) continuously monitors the meteoric and space
debris environment in the proximity of the orbit of ISS
operations. This is determined on one hand, by the
continuous increase of the pollution level in the space
environment, and on the other hand, by the ISS design life.
The Meteoroid experiment is one component of a system
being developed to monitor the meteoroid and technogenic
elements of the space environment, covering the full range of
the particle sizes.
SPACE BENEFITS
Meteoroid will aid in updating the Russian models of the
technogenic environment in the range of small-sized particles
(< 0.1 mm), which is characterized by significant dynamics in
time, and specifically, for updating the developed model of the
penetrating shower of meteoroid and technogenic particles with sizes 20 – 100 micron
impacting thin barriers and to verify the predictions of the arrival time and intensity of meteor
showers.
RESULTS
The comparison of the data on MMOD showers obtained as a result of the Meteoroid
experiment to results from orbital stations Salyut and Mir and other space objects, as well as to
modeled values of the showers showed that in the range of particle sizes over 20 micron, there
is an increase in the pollution levels of the near-Earth space environment over time for orbital
altitude ranges 400-500 km (more than doubling over 10-15 years). For the range of particles
with sizes below 20 micrometers, such effect is not observed as a result of a more intensive
self-cleaning of the space environment at these altitudes from smaller-sized micro-particles due
to aerodynamic deceleration and solar radiation pressure.
This investigation is complete; however additional results are pending publication.
General view of the Station and
the placement of sensors on the
planes of the Service Module.
Roscosmos image.