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AIM Mission Logo
AIM: Exploring Clouds at the Edge of Space

FEATURED DATA

CIPS Albedo Algorithm
Click image for enlargement and details.

The image here compares the albedo from the new method to the v3.20 (currently operational) albedo for orbit 3660 in December, 2007.
Read More Detail >

SOFIE Ice Abundance
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This SOFIE figure compares time versus height cross sections of ice abundance. The good agreement between SOFIE data and the model suggests that on average PMCs exist in equilibrium with the surrounding environment. Read More Detail >


Featured Data Archive

ORBIT TOOLS

AIM Satellite Location Generator
Current AIM Location

Use the AIM Orbit Generator for details and orbit prediction

Find overpass times for your groundstation

LAUNCH DETAILS

days
since AIM launched.

Launch Date: 25 April 2007
Location: Vandenberg AFB, California, USA
Launch Vehicle: Pegasus
Orbit: Sun-synchronus
Inclination: 97.8 degrees
Period: 96 min, 32 sec

After initial spacecraft stabilization, the spacecraft and instruments underwent extensive commissioning activities to ensure proper operation.

AIM DATA SETS

Download Documentation:

Software Tools:

MISSION STATUS

011.13.09
All subsystems on the AIM spacecraft continue to function as expected except, of course, for the usual lack of bitlock.  We broke the record for longest period of bitlock outage by one day.  The previous record number of days without bitlock was 36, but the new record is now 37 days.  But since then we’ve been able to perform all of our desired command operations for October and November, including loading the CIPS Northern Hemisphere Flat Field imaging for October 14-17, a Southern Hemisphere Flat Field imaging set for November 25-28, and a special calibration sequence for SOFIE to run Nov 25-28.
more >

INSTRUMENTS

CDE
CDE Instrument

Final Mass, Power, & Data Rates for SOFIE, CIPS, CDE, BUS, and their totals.

THE MISSION

The Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) satellite mission is exploring Polar Mesospheric Clouds (PMCs), also called noctilucent clouds, to find out why they form and why they are changing.

The AIM mission has been extended by NASA through the end of FY12. During this time the instruments will monitor noctilucent clouds to better understand their variability and possible connection to climate change. Individual instrument data collection status, as well as spacecraft and instrument health, will be monitored throughout the life of the mission and reported periodically on this website.

NEWS & PRESS

08.04.09
Hays Daily News - Hays,KS,USA
Adams presents in Alaska

07.16.09
Wired.com
Mysterious, Glowing Clouds Appear Across America’s Night Skies

07.11.09
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day
Noctilucent Cloud Storm Panarama by P-M Hedén

OUTREACH

06.21.09 - 06.28.09
The Heliophysics Educator Ambassador Workshop was held in Anchorage, Alaska

HEA Logo

The Heliophysics Educator Ambassador (HEA) program focused on in-depth learning experiences around Earth, Space, and Physical Science topics for educators teaching in middle and high school grades. The first workshop was held June 21-28, 2009. AIM collaborates in the HEA program with other NASA satellite missions.

MORE @ NASA

NASA's AIM website

Article: The Science of AIM

STS-119 NLC

03.15.09
Space shuttle STS-119 Discovery launched creating a man-made noctilucent cloud. View time-lapse photos taken from Kennedy Space Center's Visitor Complex and read comments from Dr. James M. Russell III, AIM's principal investigator. > more
STS-119 NLC
click to view
AIM Partner Institutions
NASA's Sun-Earth Education Forum Logo

The AIM mission is a part of
NASA's Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum.

Responsible Official: James M. Russell III
Last Modified: November 13, 2009

Web Curator: Emily M. W. Hill
Emily Hill Designs
NASA Hampton University Naval Research Laboratory Utah State University Norwegian University of Science and Technology