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Completed TRL 4 (started at 3, targeting 4)
Design of the MEMS valve on a Acidic Aerosol Separator Apparatus (ASA) to admit aerosols up to 10mm and minimize clogging probability during operation in relevant environments such as Venus and Titan hazes and clouds.
The ASA enables VAMS to measure aerosol composition within the clouds of Venus, operating over a range of input pressures, not possible with existing aerosol separators. VAMS with this capability provides a significant reduction in payload resource requirements for Venus in-situ missions because it satisfies five of the eleven instruments called for by VEXAG in its analysis of the most important in-situ aerial platform atmospheric instruments.
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