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Dust impacts on spacecraft are commonly detected by antenna instruments as transient voltage perturbations. The signal waveform is generated by the interaction between the impact-generated plasma cloud and the elements of the antenna-spacecraft system. A general electrostatic model is presented that includes the two key elements of the interaction, namely the charge recollected from the impact plasma by the spacecraft and the fraction electrons and cations that escape to infinity. The clouds of escaping electrons and cations generate induced signals, and their vastly different escape speeds are responsible for the characteristic shape of the waveforms. The induced signals are modeled numerically for the geometry of the system and the location of the impact. The model employs a Maxwell capacitance matrix to keep track of the mutual interaction between the elements of the system. A new reduced-size model spacecraft is constructed for laboratory measurements using the dust accelerator facility. The model spacecraft is equipped with four antennas: two operating in a monopole mode, and one pair configured as a dipole. Submicron-sized iron dust particles accelerated to > 20 km/s are used for test measurements, where the waveforms of each antenna are recorded. The electrostatic model provides a remarkably good fit to the data using only a handful of physical fitting parameters, such as the escape speeds of electrons and cations. The presented general model provides the framework for analyzing antenna waveforms and is applicable for a range of space missions investigating the distribution of dust particles in relevant environments., Manuscript accepted online by JGR: Space Physics on 13 August 2021

Electric field instruments carried by spacecraft (SC) are complementary to dedicated dust detectors by registering transient voltage perturbations caused by impact-generated plasma. The signal waveform contains information about the interaction between the impact-generated plasma cloud and the elements of SC-antenna system. The variability of antenna signals from dust impacts has not yet been systematically characterized. A set of laboratory measurements are performed to characterize signal variations in response to SC parameters (bias voltage and antenna configuration) and impactor parameters (impact speed and composition). The measurements demonstrate that dipole antenna configurations are sensitive to dust impacts and that the detected signals vary with impact location. When dust impacts occur at low speeds, the antennas typically register smaller amplitudes and less characteristic impact signal shapes. In this case, impact event identification may be more challenging due to lower signal-to-noise ratios and/or more variable waveforms shapes, indicating the compound nature of nonfully developed impact-generated plasmas. To investigate possible variations in the impacting materials, the measurements are carried out using two dust samples with different mass densities: iron and aluminum. No significant variations of the measured waveform or plasma parameters obtained from data analysis are observed between the two materials used., Comment: Manuscript accepted online by JGR: Space Physics on 22 March 2023

Space missions often carry antenna instruments that are sensitive to dust impacts, however, the understanding of signal generation mechanisms remained incomplete. A signal generation model in an analytical form is presented that provides a good agreement with laboratory measurements. The model is based on the direct and induced charging of the spacecraft from the collected and escaping fraction of free charges from the impact-generated plasma cloud. A set of laboratory experiments is performed using a 20:1 scaled-down model of the Cassini spacecraft in a dust accelerator facility. The results show that impact plasmas can be modeled as a plume of ions streaming away from the impact location and a cloud of isotropically expanding electrons. The fitting of the model to the collected antenna waveforms provides some of the key parameters of the impact plasma. The model also shows that the amplitudes of the impact signals can be significantly reduced in typical space environments due to the discharging effects in the ambient plasma., Comment: Manuscript accepted online by JGR: Space Physics on 05 April 2021

Cassini spacecraft spent at Saturn almost half of the Saturn year. During these 13 years in the Saturn magnetosphere, the RPWS (Radio Plasma Wave Science) instrument recorded more than half a million of waveforms with signatures that can be interpreted as dust impact signals. The RPWS antennas in both dipole and monopole configurations operated with 10 kHz or 80 kHz sampling rates during the mission.We qualitatively and quantitatively analyze the registered waveforms taking into account the spacecraft potential, density of the ambient plasma, magnitude of the Saturn’s magnetic field and its orientation with respect to the spacecraft. The magnetic field orientation is also used for distinguishing between signals resulting from dust impacts and signals produced by solitary waves, which can exhibit similar shapes. The results of analysis are compared with a prediction of the dust impact model that was recently developed on a base of laboratory simulations. The simulations used the reduced model of Cassini that was bombarded with submicron-sized iron grains in the velocity range of 1–40 km/s at the 3 MV dust accelerator operated at the LASP facility of University of Colorado. The model predicts generation of impact signals due to different fractions of collected and escaped electron and ion charges from the impact plasma plume and different timescales of their expansion. The core of the paper is devoted to a discussion of differences between model predictions and observations.

Hypervelocity impacts on spacecraft surfaces produce a wide range of effects including transient plasma clouds, surface material ablation, and for some impacts, the liberation of spacecraft material as debris clouds. This study examines debris-producing impacts on the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft as it traverses the densest part of the zodiacal cloud: the inner heliosphere. Hypervelocity impacts by interplanetary dust grains on the spacecraft that produce debris clouds are identified and examined. Impact-generated plasma and debris strongly perturb the near-spacecraft environment, producing distinct signals on electric, magnetic, and imaging sensors, as well as anomolous behavior of the star tracker cameras used for attitude determination. From these data, the spatial distribution, mass, and velocity of impactors that produce debris clouds are estimated. Debris-cloud expansion velocity and debris fragment sizes are constrained by the observational data, and long-duration electric potential perturbations caused by debris clouds are reported, along with a hypothesis for their creation. Impact-generated plasma-cloud expansion velocities, as well as pickup acceleration by the solar wind and driven plasma waves are also measured. Together, these observations produce a comprehensive picture of near-spacecraft environmental perturbations in the aftermath of a hypervelocity impact.