Twilight of NASA’s AIM: The End of a 16-Year Odyssey Above Earth

NASA’s AIM mission concluded after over a decade of groundbreaking research on Earth’s upper atmosphere, leaving behind a legacy of scientific discoveries and a wealth of data for future analysis.

After 16 years of studying Earth’s highest clouds for the benefit of humanity – polar mesospheric clouds – from its orbit some 350 miles above the ground, NASA’s Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere, or AIM, mission has come to an end.

Initially slated for a two-year mission, AIM was extended numerous times due to its high science return. While AIM has faced hurdles over the years – from software hiccups to hardware issues – an incredibly dedicated team kept the spacecraft running for much longer than anyone could have anticipated. On March 13, 2023, the spacecraft’s battery failed following several years of declining performance. Multiple attempts to maintain power to the spacecraft were made, but no further data could be collected, so the mission has now ended.