The Munich Dust Counter — A Cosmic Dust Experiment on Board of the Muses-A Mission of Japan

The Present Status of the Munich Dust Counter Experiment on Board of the Hiten Spacecraft

“…Every measurement made by the MDC consists of two curves, one for the negative impact charges, labeled EC (electron channel), and one for the positive impact charges, labeled IC (ion channel). In the case of a particle impact one or both curves should rise, with risetimes between some jis and 100 /is, see Igenbergs et al (1990). Signals of type 1 to 4 show the typical shape expected for dust particle impacts.…”

“…It is installed on the Japanese HITEN spacecraft launched on January 24, 1990 in a high elliptic orbit around the earth. The details of the instrument and of the mission of the spacecraft are discussed by Igenbergs et al (1990) and Uesugi et al (1990).…”

Meteoroids as One of the Sources for Exosphere Formation on Airless Bodies in the Inner Solar System

“…Distance range [AU] Sensitive area [m 2 ] Reference Helios 1/2 0.3 -1 0.012 Dietzel et al (1973) Galileo 0.7 -5.4 0.1 Grün et al (1992) Cassini 0.72 -10 0.1 Srama et al (2004) IKAROS 0.72 -1.1 0.54 Hirai et al (2017) Pioneer 9 0.75 -0.99 0.0074 Rhee et al (1974) Pioneer 8 0.97 -1.09 0.0094 Berg and Richardson (1969) Explorer XVI 1 1.6 Hastings (1963) Explorer XXIII 1 2.1 O 'Neal et al (1965) Pegasus 1 200 D' Aiutolo et al (1967) Hiten 1 0.01 Igenbergs et al (1991) HEOS 2 1 0.01 Dietzel et al (1973) Nozomi 1 -1.5 0.014 Sasaki et al (2007) Mariner IV 1 -1.56 0.048 Alexander et al (1967) Ulysses 1 -5.4 0.1 Grün et al (1992) Pioneer 10 1 -18 0.26 a Humes (1980) Pioneer 11 1 -10 0.56 a Humes (1980) LADEE 1 0.01 Horányi et al (2014) New Horizons 1 -48 b 0.1 Horányi et al (2008) a initial area, actual area decreased as the pressurized cells were punctured b as of 6/2020 source capable of producing and maintaining a planetary exosphere, we are interested in a size (or mass) range of particles that are "large" enough to produce sufficient energy to vaporize enough mass from the surface of the meteoroid after colliding with the surface of the airless body and, oftentimes, may trigger a continuous source of collisions. It is widely accepted that this "sweet spot" covers meteoroid masses in the range of 0.1 to 1000 µg with a peak of the flux that varies somewhat depending on the reported work.…”

DuneXpress

“…In-situ data from such instruments have been obtained over several decades; e.g. detectors on Pioneers 8 and 9 [4,60], HEOS-2 [30], Helios [23], Hiten [31]. The Galileo [24] and Ulysses [25] detectors have returned unprecedented data, and now, the Cassini CDA [54] offers a similar ionization detector, but with the capability to resolve time of flight mass spectra of impacting dust (e.g.…”