Miniature inertial measurement unit (MIMU) is an

inertial measurement unit An inertial measurement unit (IMU) is an electronic device that measures and reports a body's specific force, angular rate, and sometimes the orientation of the body, using a combination of accelerometers, gyroscopes, and sometimes magnetome ...

(IMU) developed and built by Honeywell International to control and stabilize

spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to spaceflight, fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including Telecommunications, communications, Earth observation satellite, Earth ...

during mission operations. MIMUs can also be configured to perform as an

inertial reference unit An inertial reference unit (IRU) is a type of inertial sensor which uses gyroscopes (electromechanical, ring laser gyro or MEMS) and accelerometers (electromechanical or MEMS) to determine a moving aircraft’s or spacecraft’s change in r ...

(IRU). MIMUs have been flown on GEO,

Low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never m ...

(LEO), planetary missions and deep-space-probe applications.

Missions

Geostationary (GEO) missions

Spacebus Spacebus is a satellite bus produced at the Cannes Mandelieu Space Center in France by Thales Alenia Space. Spacebuses are typically used for geostationary orbit, geostationary communications satellites, and seventy-four have been launched since ...

Low-Earth orbiting (LEO) Missions

Defense Meteorological Satellite Program The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) monitors meteorological, oceanographic, and solar-terrestrial physics for the United States Department of Defense. The program is managed by the United States Space Force with on-orbit operati ...

(DMSP)

Planetary missions

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter ''Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' (MRO) is a spacecraft designed to study the geology and climate of Mars, provide reconnaissance of future landing sites, and relay data from surface missions back to Earth. It was launched on August 12, 2005, a ...

– launched in 2005 on a mission to study the

planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a ...

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmos ...

STEREO Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

– launched in 2006 on a mission to study the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared rad ...

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a NASA robotic spacecraft currently orbiting the Moon in an eccentric polar mapping orbit. Data collected by LRO have been described as essential for planning NASA's future human and robotic missions to ...

– launched in 2009 on a mission to study the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width ...

Deep-space-probe missions

New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an interplanetary space probe that was launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), with a t ...

– launched in 2006 on a mission to study the

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest k ...

Notes and references

External links

Images of Miniature Inertial Measurement Unit (MIMU)
* ttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wLENAAAAIBAJ&sjid=03IDAAAAIBAJ&dq=of%20space%20and%20time%20honeywell%20international&pg=5927%2C5783630 OF SPACE AND TIME – St. Petersburg Times Newspaper Pagebr>Honeywell Satellite Guidance & Attitude ControlHoneywell Miniature Inertial Measurement Unit (MIMU) Specification Brochure
Navigational equipment {{technology-stub