“Meteor” Sensors Mounted on a Small Spacecraft AIST

At present, developers of space technology are paying great attention to small spacecraft. These satellites can be used for testing various technical solutions, as well as for scientific research. One of these satellites is a small satellite AIST. The major payload on the AIST satellite consists of scientific equipment METEOR that represents a set of six parametric sensors with a primary purpose to measure high-velocity micro-particles in the near-Earth space. The study of high-velocity micro-particles, i.e. the particles of space debris and micro-meteoroids, is a vital objective due to the consequences of their impact on the spacecraft. Micron-size particles having a velocity of several km/s may impair significant damage on the spacecraft equipment. If one knows the distribution of the high-velocity micro-particles in the Earth orbit, their collisions with the spacecraft can be simulated and the negative effects from the impacts minimized. Our results were obtained by measuring the surface temperature of the spacecraft which is the initial data on the micro-meteoroid environment in the Earth orbit.