Mir Environmental Effects Payload

Mir Environmental Effects Payload

The Mir Environmental Effects Payload (MEEP) was a set of four experiments installed on the Russian space station Mir from 1996 to 1997 to study the effects of space debris impacts and exposure to the space environment on a variety of materials. The materials used in the experiments were being considered for use on the International Space Station, and by exposing them at a similar orbital altitude to that flown by the ISS, the experiments provided an assessment of the performance of those materials in a similar space environment. MEEP also fulfilled the need to examine the occurrence and effects of man-made debris and natural micrometeoroids through capture and impact studies. The experiments were installed on the Mir docking module during STS-76, and retrieved during STS-86.