Dust Experiment (DEX)

Dust Experiment (DEX) Latest News

Recently, the Indian Space Research Organisation confirmed through its first-ever Dust Experiment (DEX) that an interplanetary dust particle enters Earth’s atmosphere approximately every 1,000 seconds.

About Dust Experiment (DEX)

• It is the first Indian-made instrument to hunt for these high speed Interplanetary Dust Particles (IDPs). 
• It is the first-of-its-kind instrument designed to detect such high-transient particles.
• It is developed by the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad.
• It was flown on PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM) of the PSLV-C58 XPoSat Mission on January 1, 2024.

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Features of Dust Experiment (DEX)

• It is a compact instrument tuned to hear impacts, capturing vital data.
• At the core of the experiment lies a 3-kilogram dust detector based on the cutting-edge hypervelocity principle designed to capture high-speed space dust impacts with only 4.5 W power consumption.
• It rocketed to an altitude of 350Km.
• DEX is a blueprint of the detector which can study the cosmic dust particle at any planet having an atmosphere or no atmosphere.

Significance of the Dust Experiment (DEX)

• Its data redefines our understanding of the universe and charts the path for safe human deep-space missions.
• Understanding and collecting data on interplanetary dust in Earth’s atmosphere will also be valuable for planning Gaganyaan missions.

What are Interplanetary Dust Particles (IDPs)? 

• Interplanetary dust refers to micrometer-scale particles originating from the solar system. 
• These are microscopic shrapnel from comets and asteroids that form our atmosphere’s mysterious “meteor layer”, and show up as “shooting stars” at night. 
• These can be analyzed to gain insights into their origins, formation mechanisms, and the processes that occurred in early solar and presolar environments.

 Source: IE