Thermal Micro-Extraction Laboratory for sample extraction for missions to planets, satellites, and primitive bodies

Design of a proof-of-concept Thermal Micro-Extraction Laboratory (TherMEL) microfluidic to extract analytes from soil or meteorite samples. Microfabrication of TherMEL will be conducted in the Detector Development Laboratory (DDL) within NASA' Goddard Space Flight Center. Purpose of this project is to miniaturize a typical macro-scale laboratory sample extraction for soil or meteorite to the microchip level.

Develop TherMEL’s design by using technical drawing software and thereby creating a micro-fabrication process. Execute fabrication in the DDL by micromachining a pair of mating silicon and pyrex wafers. Create a testing fixture for TherMEL to prepare for sample extractions. The goal of the project is to create a miniaturized macro scale lab component (lab-on-a-chip) for microfluidic analytical systems.