Objectives and Applications
AIM is a minisatellite mission within NASA's SMEX (Small Explorer) program designed to provide frequent, low-cost access to space for a variety of missions (the AIM mission was selected in July 2002 with final approval in May 2004). The objective of AIM is to study the causes of Earth's highest-altitude clouds, which occur on the very edge of space. These clouds, referred to as PMCs (Polar Mesospheric Clouds), form in the coldest part of the atmosphere, about 50-90 km above the polar regions, every summer
Full Name
Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere
Mission Status
Operational (extended)
Mission Agencies
Launch Date
25 Apr 2007
Mission Links
EOL Date
Dec 2025
Orbit Type
Sun-synchronous
Orbit Period
Orbit Sense
N/A
Orbit Inclination
97.78 deg
Orbit Altitude
600 km
Orbit Longitude
NORAD Catalog #
International Designator