Due to the their ubiquity and the high impact energy leading to extremely high temperatures and pressures in the affected materials, the physical processes caused by HVIs play an important role in a variety of fields such as the investigation of matter at extreme pressures and temperature, shock waves in solid bodies or even Solar System research, planetology, cosmic dust research and space engineering:Cratering phenomena throughout the Solar System :The first systematic investigation of HVIs of micro-meteoroites was dedicated to the understanding of micro-cratering on lunar rock samples. The size and morphology of resulting micro-craters was investigated as a function of particle size and impact speed. Planetology – Characterization, development and calibration of dust sensors measuring the composition, size and trajectory information of micrometeoroids aboard interplanetary spacecrafts. Astrobiology – Simulation of hyper-velocity impacts of organic micron-sized projectiles and mass spectrometric analysis of impact plasmas containing complex organic molecules; simulation of micrometeoroid impacts onto water ice surfaces. Space weathering: Alteration of bombarded surfaces Cosmic Dust research: A major part of what we know today of HVIs of micro-meteoroites was obtained in the process of developing, calibrating and operation of in situ instruments for the investigation of dust in the Solar System. Thereby induced physical processes generate measurable signals which are then transmitted to Earth and can be analyzed afterwards.There are a variety of methods for in situ dust measurements such as the detection of thin foil penetration, the particle charge, the emerging impact flash or ions generated upon impact, revealing the particles’ velocity, trajectory, mass and even chemical composition. Of all these methods, the generation of charge during impacts provides one of the most sensitive methods for the detection and and the most comprehensible characterization of dust particles in space. The characterization of the dynamical and even chemical properties of dust particles in the Solar System allows us to investigate the origin of cosmic dust and its role in the formation of the Solar System and even its role in the origin of life. Impact physics/Materials under extreme conditions – Investigation of plasma and material conditions of projectile-surface interactions under hyper-velocity impact conditions. Electrostatic dust accelerators To calibrate in-situ dust instruments and to get a deeper understanding of the processes involved, hypervelocity impact measurements under similar and well defined conditions are required. For this purpose, a Van-de-Graaff type ion accelerator was modified at the MPI-K/HD in the late 1960ies. The accelerator was equipped with a dust source capable of charging and accelerating dust particles (Fig. 1).The accelerator covers a large portion of the speed and size ranges needed for most cosmic applications with velocities between 1 to about 80 km s−1 (Fig. 2).After being located for over 5 decades at the MPI-K, the dust accelerator has been moved to the IRS/UniS. This relocation gives us the opportunity to optimize the set up and the also the whole dust research laboratory in its entirety.Particle properties and beam monitoringThe dust beam originates from the dust source within the high voltage terminal of the accelerator.(Fig.1). After exiting the source, the dust particles are accelerated in the electrostatic field towards the experimental set-up. Before reaching the experiment chamber, the particles are registered, characterized, and eventually selected while passing the beam line detectors of the Particle Selection Unit (PSU). For this, the particles are been detected by a chain of detectors measuring the particle's primary surface charge using an induction tube and a charge-sensitive amplifier (CSA). The PSU determines the grain speed and mass in order to select individual dust grains on the basis of a speed and mass window given by the experimentator. Cosmological relevant materials Dust Materials: For the above described method of acceleration to work, the particles must therefore be capable of carrying charge and hence the range of materials used has been restricted to those which are either wholly conductive or those with a conductive coating. In the last few years two techniques of coating underwent significant improvements, opening up a whole new range of material types to investigate.Target Materials: Due to the bean geometry and the vacuum conditions , there are a variety of constraints fr the target mounting and properties. Solid metal and silicate target, of terrestrial and meteoritic origin, can be easily used and have been investigated numerous times in the past. Experiments with icy targets are planned for the near future. Investigation of impact ionization with A linear TOF mass spectrometerThe characteristics of the impact plasma, such as the velocity distribution of the ions and the ion appearance in the mass spectra, can be analyzed with a linear TOF mass spectrometer. Here, the combination of velocity and angular distributions of the ions results in a broadening of the mass lines, determining their shapes. To study the distribution of the ion velocities alone, we developed an optimized narrow aperture mass spectrometer (Fig.3). The simple set up and the almost homogenous fields allow to calculate the flight times due to the known response function of the instrument. The measured mass line profile can be inverted for the distribution of initial velocity and subsequently the initial kinetic energies of the ions as shown in Fig.4.In addition to TOF other important measurements will address: cratering, secondary ejecta, neutral production, optical spectroscopy of the of the impact flash, and the characterization of the EM waves.The combination of future theoretical studies of the impact processes and the subsequent expansion of the impact produce plasma with this expanded set of measurements will be a powerful tool to investigate the state of the hot compressed matter.

The DESTINY+(Demonstration and Experiment of Space Technology for INterplanetary voYage with Phaethon fLyby and dUst Science) Dust Analyser (DDA) is a state-of-the-art dust telescope for the in situ analysis of cosmic dust particles. As the primary scientific payload of the DESTINY+ mission, it serves the purpose of characterizing the dust environment within the Earth-Moon system, investigating interplanetary and interstellar dust populations at 1 AU from the Sun and studying the dust cloud enveloping the asteroid (3200) Phaethon. DDA features a two-axis pointing platform for increasing the accessible fraction of the sky. The instrument combines a trajectory sensor with an impact ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer, enabling the correlation of dynamical, physical and compositional properties for individual dust grains. For each dust measurement, a set of nine signals provides the surface charge, particle size, velocity vector, as well as the atomic, molecular and isotopic composition of the dust grain. With its capabilities, DDA is a key asset in advancing our understanding of the cosmic dust populations present along the orbit of DESTINY+. In addition to providing the scientific context, we are presenting an overview of the instrument's design and functionality, showing first laboratory measurements and giving insights into the observation planning. This article is part of a theme issue 'Dust in the Solar System and beyond'.

In this paper, we describe the upgrade of a small electrostatic dust accelerator located at the University of Stuttgart. The newly developed dust source, focusing lens, differential detector and linac stage were successfully installed and tested in the beam line. The input voltage range of the dust source was extended from 0–20 kV to 0–30 kV. A newly developed dust detector with two differential charge sensitive amplifiers is employed to monitor particles with speeds from several m/s to several km/s and with surface charges above 0.028 fC. The post-stage linac provides an additional acceleration ability with a total voltage of up to 120 kV. The entire system of this dust accelerator works without protection gas and without a complex high voltage terminal. The volumes to be pumped down are small and can be quickly evacuated. The new system was used to accelerate micron- and submicron-sized metal particles or coated mineral materials. Improvements in the acceleration system allow for a wider variety of dust materials and new applications.

Cosmic dust particles are important messengers. They contain information about their origin and their journey through space. The DESTINY+ mission that launches in 2024 provides the opportunity to investigate the dust populations present at 1 AU and around the active asteroid (3200) Phaethon. For this purpose, the Destiny+ Dust Analyzer (DDA) is employed. The instrument is developed under the lead of the University of Stuttgart in Germany. Its capabilities are to simultaneously analyze the dynamical and compositional properties of individual cosmic dust grains that are intersected along the mission. To gain independence from the S/C attitude a two axes pointing mechanism is developed. It provides an azimuthal range of 180° and an elevation range of 90°. The full instrument electronics is developed by the industry partner von Hoerner & Sulger GmbH in Schwetzingen, Germany while the software development takes place at the University of Stuttgart. The mass of the full instrument is ~12 kg and the power consumption is ~35 W in observation mode. The particle trajectory and grain size are determined by the trajectory sensor stage. It utilizes the fact that particles in space carry a surface charge. It consists out of a segmented plane of metal grids of which each is connected to a charge sensitive amplifier. This plane is sandwiched between two grids that are on ground potential. If a charged particle resides in between the grounded planes, it induces a mirror charge on the measurement grid segments. The incident angle, velocity and surface charge of the dust grains are reconstructed from the course and amplitude signal traces. An impact ionization time of flight mass spectrometer provides the compositional analysis of the dust grains. The sensor target is a gold surface with 300 cm² sensitive area and a field of view of 1.99 steradian. Particles collide with the sensor target with relative speeds of several km·s-1. At impact they ionize and the impact plasma is manipulated by electric fields. The cations are accelerated, reflected and focused towards an electron multiplier wich functions as an ion detector. Here the cations are detected with high temporal resolution at two sensitivity stages. This allows to identifie the presence cations in the atomic mass range of 1 – 800 u with a high dynamic range. In the relevant ion mass range of silicates, carbon and metals the mass resolution is high enough so separate the individual atomic species. As the mass spectrometer is highly sensitive to contamination the target can be heater for decontamination. A door cover protects the cleanliness of the sensor interior during launch. Additionaly to the mass spectrum the cation charge is measured by charge sensitive amplifiers at an ion grid in front of the multiplier aperture and an ion ring around it. The negative plasma charge is measured at the target. All signal channels are contiuously active and analyzed by an FPGA. A frame of the signal set is stored as soon as trigger conditions are met. This sensitive yet robust system allows to separate actual dust impacts from noise events. An uncompressed signal set from an individual impact event has a size of ~400 kbit and 2 Gbit non volatile ram is available for storage. Data processing is performed by a SAMRH71 from Microchip. Lossless and lossy compression algorithms are implemented for reducing the packet size for downlink. The talk will give an overview of the instrument functionality and design. We will present the development status and the results of first dust impact measurement will be presented, that are obtained by laboratory measurements with a dust accelerator. Crossection cut through the DDA Sensor. Pointing mechanism and sensor head for measuring cosmic dust particles are depicted. A separate electronics box (not depicted) is located inside the S/C.