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National Space Science Data Center Header  Cometary and
Interstellar Dust Analyzer (CIDA)  NSSDC ID: 1999-003A-02
Mission Name: Stardust/NExT Principal Investigator: Dr. Jochen
Kissel   The Cometary and Interstellar Dust Analyzer (CIDA) is a
space qualified time-of flight mass spectrometer designed to
study the elemental and chemical composition of the particles in
the coma of comet P/Wild 2. CIDA works on the principle that
dust grains hitting a target will produce ionized particles
which can be influenced by magnetic fields and whose mass can be
analyzed based on the time it takes them to pass through an
electrostatic reflector. It can measure a mass range from 1 to a
few thousand atomic mass units and can handle impact velocities
of 25-55 km/s, typical for interstellar material, to 6 km/s for
cometary dust.  CIDA is body mounted on the side of the Stardust
spacecraft. It consists of a silver target with an area of 100
square cm. Particles hit the tar