Tiny Space Dust Hits Earth Every 16 Minutes, Says ISRO

ISRO’s Dust EXperiment (DEX) has detected interplanetary dust particles striking Earth roughly every 1,000 seconds—tiny fragments from comets and asteroids that continuously bombard our planet.

DEX (Dust EXperiment) is an official ISRO project, developed by its Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad. It is India’s first home-grown dust detector, flown aboard ISRO’s PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM) in 2024–25.

What Was Discovered

Flight model of DEX on POEM of the PSLV C58 XPoSat mission

• Instrument: Dust EXperiment (DEX), India’s first home-grown dust detector.
• Frequency: About once every 16 minutes (1,000 seconds), Earth is hit by microscopic interplanetary dust particles (IDPs).
• Origin of Dust: Fragments from comets and asteroids, often seen as “shooting stars.”
• Deployment: DEX was flown aboard the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM) in 2024.
• Design: Compact (3 kg), consumes only 4.5W of power, uses hypervelocity sensors to detect dust impacts.

Why It Matters

• Scientific Breakthrough: First Indian-made instrument to directly measure IDPs in orbit.
• Planetary Exploration: Could study dust in atmospheres of Venus, Mars, and the Moon.
• Safety for Missions: Mapping dust streams helps protect satellites and crewed missions.
• Atmospheric Science: Dust contributes to Earth’s meteor layer, influencing chemistry and climate.

Key Takeaways

Feature	Details
Instrument	Dust EXperiment (DEX)
Developed by	ISRO’s Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad
Launched	2024 aboard PSLV-POEM
Detection Rate	Every ~1,000 seconds
Particle Source	Comets & asteroids (interplanetary dust)
Applications	Planetary atmospheres, satellite safety, deep-space missions