Miniature Vacuum Pump for Planetary Atmosphere Aerosol Separator

NASA seeks to develop an Aerosol Separator (AS) as the sample inlet for any mass spectrometer (MS) operating in a planetary atmosphere containing suspended aerosols, including liquid, icy, and metallic particles. The primary role of the AS is to inertially set apart heavier particles from the gas using the NanoJet technology, and determine aerosol chemical composition, number, and size distribution. The most stressing case for the new AS technology is the unknown 360 nm absorber suspended in acidic aerosols in Venusrsquo; clouds. It is also applicable for aerial and surface missions to Titan and Mars and subsonic probe missions to the ice giants. The MS measurements require low gas pressures created by vacuum pumps, and for the planetary missions, these pumps must be extremely small and lightweight. To meet this need, on the proposed program, Creare plans to develop and deliver advanced miniature vacuum pumps that are compact, lightweight, and will withstand the challenging sampling conditions presented by acidic aerosols and spaceflight. In Phase I, we performed life testing of pumps with acidic sampling gases and developed pump and electronics designs for a flight system. We also identified COTS electronic components to substitute for flight electronics in a ground demonstration system. In Phase II, we will build and deliver pumps and electronics for use in a NASA test facility. In Phase III, we will deliver components for space missions based on our past successful vacuum systems used on the Mars Science Laboratory and ExoMars MSs.