Abstract
This paper presents the results of optical observations in Radar-Progress Experiment between April 17, 2013 and July 30, 2014 after switching on the approach-correction engine (ACE) of Progress M-17M and Progress M-23M cargo spacecraft in the thermosphere. A region of enhanced emission intensity was recorded during engine operation. This may have been related to the scatter of twilight solar emission along the cargo spacecraft exhaust and to the emergence of an additional atomic oxygen [OI] 630 nm. The maximum size of emission region, we observed, was ~ 330-350 km and ~ 250-270 km along and across the orbit, respectively. For the first time after the ACE initiation, an expansion rate of emission region was ~7 and ~3.5 km/s along and across the orbit, respectively. Maximum intensity of the disturbance area for Progress M-17M is estimated at ~ 40-60 R at 2 nm. Progress M-23M Space Experiment registered minor disturbance of atmospheric [OI] 630.0 nm emissions, both in the near and in the further cargo spacecraft flight path, which might have been associated with the ACE exhaust gas injection.
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