Cosmic dust and space debris measurements with the Munich dust counter on board the satellites hiten and brem-sat

Abstract

The Munich Dust Counter (MDC) is a scientific space experiment on board the Japanese satellite HITEN (MUSES-A) and on board the university satellite BREM-SAT which will be launched in a GAS-CAP container by the Shuttle during the D-2 Mission. The plasma, that is generated by the impact of a cosmic dust particle on a target, is measured to determine mass, velocity and crude flight direction of cosmic dust and space debris particles. After a short introduction describing the experiment setup and the satellite missions the results of the two years of operation of the MDC on board HITEN are discussed. From these cosmic dust particle measurements the impact rate versus time and the cosmic dust flux versus distance from Earth are derived. The spatial, the directional distribution, and first considerations of the orbital flight velocities of the measured particles will be presented. Results of all MUSES-A mission phases in the geomagnetic tail region of the Earth, in the vicinity of the moon and the Lagrangian points (L4 and L5 flyby) are discussed. Furthermore the predicted number of particle impacts on the MDC-BREM-SAT will be presented.