  The abundance of deuterium in the interstellar gas in front of the Sun gives
insight into the processes of filtration of neutral interstellar species
through the heliospheric interface and potentially into the chemical evolution
of the Galactic gas. We investigate the possibility of detection of neutral
interstellar deuterium at 1 AU from the Sun by direct sampling by the
Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX). We simulate the flux of neutral
interstellar D at IBEX for the actual measurement conditions. We assess the
number of interstellar D atom counts expected during the first three years of
IBEX operation. We also simulate observations expected during an epoch of high
solar activity. In addition, we calculate the expected counts of D atoms from
the thin terrestrial water layer, sputtered from the IBEX-Lo conversion surface
by neutral interstellar He atoms. Most D counts registered by IBEX-Lo are
expected to originate from the water layer, exceeding the interstellar signal
by 2 orders of magnitude. However, the sputtering should stop once the Earth
leaves the portion of orbit traversed by interstellar He atoms. We identify
seasons during the year when mostly the genuine interstellar D atoms are
expected in the signal. During the first 3 years of IBEX operations about 2
detectable interstellar D atoms are expected. This number is comparable with
the expected number of sputtered D atoms registered during the same time
intervals. The most favorable conditions for the detection occur during low
solar activity, in an interval including March and April each year. The
detection chances could be improved by extending the instrument duty cycle,
e.g., by making observations in the special deuterium mode of IBEX-Lo.
