Development of the nano-dust analyzer (NDA) for detection and compositional analysis of nanometer-size dust particles originating in the inner heliosphere.

A linear time-of-flight mass spectrometer is developed for the detection and chemical analysis of nanometer-sized particles originating near the Sun. Nano-dust particles are thought to be produced by mutual collisions between interplanetary dust particles slowly spiraling toward the Sun and are accelerated outward to high velocities by interaction with the solar wind plasma. The WAVES instruments on the two STEREO spacecraft reported the detection, strong temporal variation, and potentially high flux of these particles.