Impacts on HST and EuReCa solar arrays compared with LDEF using a new glass-to-aluminium conversion

In order to compare impact fluxes measured on solar arrays in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to those on aluminium surfaces, as measured by the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) for example, a conversion between the conchoidal diameter impact feature (D-co) (as observed on solar array surfaces) and the,ballistic limit in aluminium (Fmax) has been developed. We find good agreement between the converted HST and EuReCa solar array fluxes and LDEF fluxes at large sizes (F-max > 30 mu m) where meteoroids dominate. We also find the converted HST and EuReCa fluxes are in broad agreement with the microdebris enhancement (F-max < 30 mu m) apparent on LDEF, indicating that the microdebris flux has not changed significantly between the LDEF epoch (1984-1990), and the EuReCa (1992-1993) and HST (1990-1993) epochs.