Nebula Public Library

Microparticles are one of the most unknown components of the space environment. Their observation and investigation is complicated by their small size and their high velocity. When impacting on a spacecraft surface, a plasma cloud is generated by shock wave and surface ionization processes. This transient cloud of vaporized and ionized particle and surface material, referred to as impact plasma, rapidly expands to the meter scale within microseconds, thereby interacting with spacecraft surface components.