Cosmic Dust Analyzer

The Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA) was a large-area (0.1 m2 total sensitive area) multi-sensor dust instrument included on the Cassini spacecraft, which was launched in 1997 and orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017. The instrument included a chemical dust analyzer (time-of-flight mass spectrometer), a highly reliable impact ionization detector, and two high rate polarized polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) detectors. Over 7 years en route to Saturn, the CDA analysed the interplanetary dust cloud, the stream of interstellar dust, and Jupiter dust streams. During 13 years in orbit around Saturn, the CDA studied the E ring, dust in the plumes of Enceladus, and dust in Saturn's environment.

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