ISRO''s DEX detects interplanetary dust particles ''bombardment'' on earth

Bengaluru, Jan 5 (PTI) ISRO's maiden home-made dust detector instrument has detected interplanetary dust particles (IDP), which are "a cosmic invader striking every thousand seconds" on earth, the space agency said on Monday.

The Dust EXperiment (DEX) is the first Indian-made instrument which was flown on the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM) last year.

According to ISRO, Interplanetary Dust Particles (IDPs) are microscopic shrapnel from comets and asteroids that form our atmosphere's mysterious "meteor layer", and show up as "shooting star" in the night.

DEX, developed by ISRO's Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, is tuned to hunt for high speed IDPs and hear impacts, capturing vital data that redefines the understanding of the universe and charts the path for safe human deep-space missions, the Indian space agency said in a statement.

"The 140 degree wide-view detector successfully logged signals of orbital debris' (dust) impacts during January 1, 2024 to February 9, 2024, confirming the instrument's capability to identify and measure such events. Skimming Earth's atmosphere on a 9.5 inclination, the detector registered several hits-- a cosmic invader striking every thousand seconds," the statement said.

DEX is a three kg dust detector based on the "cutting-edge hypervelocity principle designed to capture high-speed space dust impacts with only 4.5 Watt power consumption", ISRO said.

It added that the instrument was flown on POEM of the PSLV-C58 XPoSat mission on January 1, 2024, and rocketed to 350 km altitude.

DEX delivered the most recent observations of IDPs entering Earth's atmosphere, which is an exciting confirmation of the constant bombardment from outer space, ISRO said.

"At present, we have no measurements of cosmic dust in the thick atmosphere of Venus or in the thin atmosphere of the red planet Mars. DEX is a blueprint of the detector which can study the cosmic dust particle at any planet having atmosphere or no atmosphere," ISRO added.

The Earth-orbiting DEX can provide the first-ever direct measurements of IDP within the uncharted atmospheres of Venus or Mars. It can also provide new measurements around the Moon.

Beyond pure science, this data is mission-critical. The ability to measure IDPs is essential for monitoring the space environment, precisely assessing hazards for our satellites, and ultimately, ensuring the safety and success of future manned missions to Moon, Mars and beyond, according to ISRO. PTI GMS GMS SA