Microsensors for planetary environments

Author

Cavicchi, R.E. ; Meier, D. ; Thomas, O. ; Taylor, C.J. ; Montgomery, C.B. ; Semancik, S.

Author_Institution

Chem. Sci. & Technol. Lab., Nat. Inst. of Stand. & Technol., Gaithersburg, MD, USA

Volume

2

fYear

2003

fDate

22-24 Oct. 2003

Firstpage

791

Abstract

A new paradigm for the exploration of planetary environments involves the use of "microspacecraft," with a mass of approximately 10 kg. Instrumentation would take advantage of recent developments in the miniaturization of sensors. For chemical analysis, gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectroscopy (MS) have been used in several NASA missions, but these instruments are too large for next-generation microspacecraft. Microscale versions of these instruments face challenges related to vacuum pumping for MS and delivery of carrier gas for GC. We are exploring the use of an alternative chemical detection technology that uses arrays of micromachined preconcentrators, filters and sensors.

Keywords

aerospace instrumentation; chromatography; gas sensors; mass spectroscopic chemical analysis; micromachining; microsensors; space research; chemical analysis; chemical detection technology; filters; gas chromatography; mass spectroscopy; micromachined preconcentrators; microsensors; planetary environments; sensors; Chemical analysis; Chemical sensors; Chemical technology; Face detection; Gas chromatography; Instruments; Mass spectroscopy; Microsensors; NASA; Sensor arrays;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Sensors, 2003. Proceedings of IEEE

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8133-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ICSENS.2003.1279050

Filename

1279050