Detection of Dust Particles Using Faraday Cup Instruments

Abstract

Abstract Faraday cups can measure velocity distribution functions of space plasmas and are frequent instruments on heliophysics missions. A new version of a Faraday cup instrument is in development for the Luna 26 mission and will be used for fast monitoring of the solar wind plasma parameters. The prototype of this instrument is exposed to dust impacts in a velocity range of 0.2–60 km s−1 using an electrostatic dust accelerator. The collected data are used to evaluate the sensitivity and detection efficiency of dust particles on two different surfaces. The results indicate that the sensitivity is sufficient for detection of the interplanetary dust as well as for the registration of the dust lifted from the lunar surface. A simple modification of the FC electronics would increase the detection efficiency by an order of magnitude.