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Free keywords:
BepiColombo mission · Mio · Mercury · Cosmic dust · Piezoelectric ceramic
sensor
MPIS_PROJECTS:
Bepi-Colombo
Abstract:
An in-situ cosmic-dust instrument called the Mercury Dust Monitor (MDM) had
been developed as a part of the science payload for the Mio (Mercury Magnetospheric Or-
biter, MMO) stage of the joint European Space Agency (ESA)–JAXA Mercury-exploration
mission. The BepiColombo spacecraft was successfully launched by an Ariane 5 rocket on
October 20, 2018, and commissioning tests of the science payload were successfully com-
pleted in near-earth orbit before injection into a long journey to Mercury. MDM has a sensor
consisting of four plates of piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT), which converts the mechanical stress (or strain) induced by dust-particle impacts into electrical signals. Af-
ter the commencement of scientific operations, MDM will measure the impact momentum
at which dust particles in orbit around the Sun collide with the sensor and record the ar-
rival direction. This paper provides basic information concerning the MDM instrument and
its predicted scientific operation as a future reference for scientific articles concerning the
MDM’s observational data.