On the fine structure of the cometary component of the dust population in the light of past and future optical and in-situ measurements

An attempt is made to outline the potentialities of the space missions to be carried out in the 1980s in providing insight into the finer details of the dust distribution in some important regions of the solar system. Topics to be resolved include the Pioneer-10 'gap' between the Earth and Mars, the question of the 'Jupiter barrier', the radial extension of the Helios-derived symmetry plane of zodiacal light, the size spectrum and physicochemical composition and distribution of meteoroidal particles, as well as a number of evolutionary problems.