Micro Fork & Keystone & Aerogel
MEMS Precision Instruments
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Here a Micro Fork is being used to remove an aerogel keystone that has been cut out of a block of
aerogel. After the micro robotic cutting process (developed by Andrew Westphal and Christopher
Snead at Space Sciences Lab, University of California, Berkeley)the fork is inserted into the
keystone to capture it for all subsequent handling. The
barbed Micro Fork holds the keystone securely, and does not damage the particle specimen embedded
in it or interfere with future analytical measurements. Keystones mounted on these forks have been
transferred to different laboratories all over the world for ananlysis
of the extraterrestrial particles.
This photo was taken at the NASA particle curation lab at the Johnson Space Center in Houston,
TX, by Christopher Snead.
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