Space Photonics
a new generation of advanced photonics devices
Space Heritage
MIM was installed as a permanent facility on the MIR Space Station (left; credit NASA) where it logged more than 3000 hours for experiments sponsored by CSA and NASA before MIR was decommissioned in March 2001.
Microgravity Isolation Mount - MIM 1
Microgravity Isolation Mount (MIM) flight hardware was designed to sense and counter the natural background vibrations that occur in microgravity.
MIM consisted of three parts: the control unit, the flotor where the experiments are mounted, and the stator, which was fixed to the spacecraft. The flotor stage used the principle of magnetic levitation to steady the experiments.
MIM1 was built for the Canadian Space Agency's Microgravity Sciences Program, based on an idea by Dr. Tim Salcudean of the University of British Columbia.
MIM1 was launched into space in April 1996 aboard the Russian Priroda space module, and became a permanent facility on the orbiting space station MIR.
First experiments to use the MIM facility aboard MIR used the QUELD II furnace (Queen's University Experiments in Liquid Diffusion) to develop new alloys and semi-conductor materials.
From 1996 to 2001, the system logged more than 3000 hours of operational time supporting experiments including:
- Nucleation in glasses
- Particle transport
- Recrystallization in semiconductors
- Diffusion in liquid metals