In situ dust measurements from RPW/TDS instrument on Solar Orbiter mission

Dust particles represent an important fraction of the matter composing the interplanetary medium. The large number and broad diversity of dust particles lead to in situ dust measurements that are based on the detection of the charges generated by dust impacts. We study the electric signals produced by these impacts, using the waveform sampler data produced by the TDS subsystem of the Radio and Plasma Wave instrument aboard Solar Orbiter. We used impulsive voltage signals measurements to determine typical shapes, features, and fluxes of these signals from the beginning of the mission. Since Solar orbiter missions will explore the inner-heliosphere, radio dust detection will be a unique opportunity to provide the first-ever in-situ measurements of cosmic dust close to the Sun and constrain dust evolution models.