Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Dust Detector Records Constant Cosmic Particle Bombardment

Key facts

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) stated that the Dust EXperiment (DEX) "successfully recorded multiple impacts from orbital debris and cosmic dust, confirming that it can identify and measure such events in low-Earth orbit."
• Developed by the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, DEX was flown aboard the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM) during the PSLV-C58 XPoSat mission, launched on Jan 1, 2024.
• At the heart of DEX is a 3-kg dust detector based on the hypervelocity impact principle.
• Despite its sensitivity, the system consumes just 4.5 W of power, making it suitable for long-duration missions.
• Scientists derived a dust flux of about 6.5 × 10?³ particles per square metre per second, confirming that Earth is under constant bombardment from interplanetary debris.
• Such measurements help refine models of the near-Earth space environment, which are essential for protecting satellites and other space assets from high-speed micro-impacts.
• Interplanetary Dust Particles (IDPs) are microscopic fragments shed by comets and asteroids.
• After being placed at an altitude of about 350km, the instrument operated between Jan 1 and Feb 9, 2024.