Dust impact detection by antenna and Faraday cup instruments in space
Abstract
Electric field sensors or solar wind detectors based on Faraday cups are sensitive to impacts of high velocity dust particles. Despite a number of missions/instruments capable to detect dust particles, details of the detection mechanisms remain not fully understood. In order to study the properties of dust impacts, we conducted laboratory investigations of two principally different instruments: (1) antennas and (2) Faraday cups. Submicron-size iron dust particles within a velocity range of 1-40 km/s were generated by the dust accelerator facility operated at the University of Colorado. A scaled-down model of the Cassini spacecraft and three antennas of the RPWS (Radio Plasma Wave Science) instrument in dipole and monopole configurations have been used to study the response of antennas to dust impacts. Faraday cups were represented by an engineering prototype of the BMSW (Bright Monitor of the Solar Wind) instrument, operating onboard Spektr-R. Both instruments registered dust impact events with the recorded signals that resembling those detected in the space. We discuss the similarities and differences in physical processes leading to observed responses of detectors and corresponding electronics.
- Publication:
-
42nd COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- July 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018cosp...42E2469N