Contamination environment as measured at the MIR space station

A new European Space Agency (ESA) flight instrument attached to the exterior of the MIR Space Station is providing a better understanding of the effects of the space environment. The instrument is measuring, real time, the impacts and trajectory of hypervelocity particles, the atomic oxygen flux and any contamination deposition/effects during the course of the mission. The ESA mission, EuroMir'95, began in September 1995 and was completed in March 1996. Active data from the Quartz Crystal Microbalances confirm the existence of a severe gaseous environment. The mission has also allowed for an EVA which will return passive materials to earth for subsequent laboratory analyses. These data are considered quite germane due to the similarity in orbital altitude and inclination of the Mir and Alpha Space Stations.