In-Situ Dust Detection by Spacecraft Antennas: Laboratory Characterization of Particle Energies and Geometrical Effects

Abstract:

We describe direct laboratory investigation of signals generated by hypervelocity dust impacts on spacecraft. Although the majority of spacecraft do not carry dedicated dust detectors, those with antenna-based instruments routinely observe impulsive signals from dust impacts on the spacecraft and antennas. Recent analysis of signals from the STEREO spacecraft WAVES electric field sensors, and unexpected high-altitude observations at Mars by MAVEN’s LPW instrument, highlight the opportunity for in-situ dust detection by such spacecraft.

However, quantitative interpretation of the spacecraft data currently suffers from large uncertainties, including the quantity and energy distribution of charged particles released, the effect of the spacecraft configuration and impact location, and the near-spacecraft electric fields and plasma environment. We report a series of experiments conducted at the IMPACT hypervelocity dust accelerator facility at the University of Colorado Boulder, to investigate (1) the effects of spacecraft and antenna potential on charge recollection and consequent signals, (2) the energy distribution of charged particles produced by dust impacts on realistic spacecraft materials at various speeds, and (3) the influence of spacecraft geometry, using impacts distributed across a high-fidelity model of the STEREO spacecraft. Implications for future spacecraft observations are also discussed.