The ASIM project
ASIM - Atmosphere Space Interaction Monitor
ASIM is an experiment for the International Space Station (ISS) external facilities on the Columbus module. ASIM is aimed at the study of high-altitude optical emissions from the stratosphere and mesosphere, the Transient Luminous Events (TLEs: Red Sprites, Blue Jets, Elves) and the Terrestrial Gamma Flashes (TGFs) (Neubert et al., 2006).
ASIM has been through a Phase-A (Development and Design, 2004-2005) and a Phase-B (Breadboard and Feasibility, 2007-2009) study. In May 2009 the Program Board for Human Spaceflight and Exploration (PB-HME) decided that the ASIM payload shall be part of the ELIPS-3 program and allocated funding to ASIM from the program. A flight model of the ASIM payload will be built through Phase C/D starting early 2010.