  In the early 1990s, contemporary interstellar dust penetrating deep into the
heliosphere was identified with the in-situ dust detector on board the Ulysses
spacecraft. Later on, interstellar dust was also identified in the data sets
measured with dust instruments on board Galileo, Cassini and Helios. Ulysses
monitored the interstellar dust stream at high ecliptic latitudes for about 16
years. The three other spacecraft data sets were obtained in the ecliptic plane
and cover much shorter time intervals.We compare in-situ interstellar dust
measurements obtained with these four spacecrafts, published in the literature,
with predictions of a state-of-the-art model for the dynamics of interstellar
dust in the inner solar system (Interplanetary Meteoroid environment for
EXploration, IMEX), in order to test the reliability of the model predictions.
Micrometer and sub-micrometer sized dust particles are subject to solar gravity
and radiation pressure as well as to the Lorentz force on a charged dust
particle moving through the Interplanetary Magnetic Field. The IMEX model was
calibrated with the Ulysses interstellar dust measurements and includes these
relevant forces. We study the time-resolved flux and mass distribution of
interstellar dust in the solar system. The IMEX model agrees with the
spacecraft measurements within a factor of 2 to 3, also for time intervals and
spatial regions not covered by the original model calibration with the Ulysses
data set. It usually underestimates the dust fluxes measured by the space
missions which were not used for the model calibration, i.e. Galileo, Cassini
and Helios. IMEX is a unique time-dependent model for the prediction of
interstellar dust fluxes and mass distributions for the inner and outer solar
system. The model is suited to study dust detection conditions for past and
future space missions.
