Mochii

Development of what ended up being the Mochii began in 2012.{{Cite web |url=https://www.geekwire.com/2020/garage-space-station-voxas-mochii-electron-microscope-will-flying-high/ |title=From the garage to the space station: Voxa's Mochii electron microscope will be flying high |date=2020-02-07 |website=GeekWire |last1=Boyle |first1=Alan |language=en-US |access-date=2020-04-24 }} The goal of the Mochii was to take scanning electron microscopes, conventionally large, expensive, and unwieldy tools, and shrink them down in order to decrease cost and increase portability.

In 2015, Voxa began collaborating with NASA who saw the potential of taking the Mochii to space.{{Cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/ng-13-research-highlights |title=New Research to ISS Aboard Northrop Grumman-13 |last=Johnson |first=Michael |date=2020-01-29 |website=NASA |access-date=2020-04-29 }} In the last few years, NASA has provided upwards of $450,000{{Cite web |url=https://beta.sam.gov/search?keywords=mochii&sort=-relevance&index=&is_active=true&page=1 |title=Search |website=System for Award Management |access-date=2020-04-24 }} for the development of the Mochii. The Mochii had to confront issues unique to space-based operation such as "errant fluid behavior, residual gravity gradients, cosmic rays, and safety of flight".{{Cite journal|last=Pettit|first=Donald R.|date=August 3, 2015|title=Some Unexpected Difficulties in Microscope Operation in Microgravity|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/microscopy-and-microanalysis/article/some-unexpected-difficulties-in-microscope-operation-in-microgravity/FCE06DC1335A6E1D2F92532451CF5E83|journal=Microscopy and Microanalysis|language=en|volume=21|issue=S2|pages=42–43|doi=10.1017/S1431927615014579|bibcode=2015MiMic..21S..42P|s2cid=232396247 |issn=1431-9276}}

In 2018, the Mochii won the Microscopy Today Innovation Award, an industry award given for inventions that make microscopy more efficient and powerful.{{Cite journal |date=September 2018 |title=2018 Microscopy Today Innovation Awards |journal=Microscopy Today |language=en |volume=26 |issue=5 |pages=34–38 |doi=10.1017/S1551929518000822 |issn=1551-9295 |doi-access=free }}

In June 2019, the Mochii participated in the 23rd NEEMO (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) mission.{{Cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NEEMO/index.html |title=NEEMO{{Snd}} NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations |last=Loff |first=Sarah |date=2015-06-24 |website=NASA |access-date=2020-04-24 }}

On February 15, 2020, the Mochii launched on the Cygnus cargo spacecraft, headed to the ISS.{{Cite web |url=https://www.geekwire.com/2020/third-times-charm-cygnus-cargo-ship-finally-gets-launched-space-station/ |title=Third time's the charm: Cygnus cargo ship finally gets launched to the space station |last1=Boyle |first1=Alan |date=2020-02-15 |website=GeekWire|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-02}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.space.com/antares-cygnus-cargo-ship-ng-13-launch-success.html |title=Northrop Grumman launches Cygnus cargo ship to space station for NASA |date=15 February 2020 |first1=Tariq |last1=Malik |website=Space.com |language=en |access-date=2020-04-03 }}{{Cite web |url=https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2020/02/15/u-s-cygnus-cargo-ship-blasts-off-to-station-for-tuesday-delivery/ |title=U.S. Cygnus Cargo Ship Blasts Off to Station for Tuesday Delivery |last=Garcia |first=Mark |date=2020-02-15 |website=NASA }} Voxa's microscope is supposed to help with on-site imaging at the ISS, this eliminates the need for sending the sample back down to Earth which has the issues of cost, time, and potential sample damage.{{Cite journal |last1=Own |first=Christopher S. |last2=Murfitt |first2=Matthew F. |last3=Own |first3=Lawrence S. |last4=Cushing |first4=Jesse |last5=Martinez |first5=James |last6=Thomas-Keprta |first6=Katherine |last7=Pettit |first7=Donald R. |date=March 2018 |title=Portable Electron Microscopy and Microanalysis in Extreme Environments |journal=Microscopy and Microanalysis |language=en |volume=23 |issue=S1 |pages=1082–1083 |doi=10.1017/S1431927617006079 |issn=1431-9276 |doi-access=free }}

The Mochii measures {{Val|21|x|21|x|26.5|u=cm}} {{Cite web|url=https://www.mymochii.com/specifications.html|title=Specifications|website=www.mymochii.com|access-date=2020-04-24}} and weighs around 6 pounds. The SEM's stage measures {{Val|2|x|2|x|1.5|u=cm}}. The Mochii has a swap-able optical cartridge that eliminates the need for in-person servicing. The cartridge has a source potential of 10 kV, a 5000x magnification, a backscatter array detector, and auto-calibration. The microscope is capable of EDS,{{Cite journal|last1=Own|first1=C. S.|last2=Thomas-Keprta|first2=K. T.|last3=Cushing|first3=J.|last4=DeRego|first4=T.|last5=Own|first5=L. S.|last6=Rahman|first6=Z.|last7=Martinez|first7=J.|last8=Pettit|first8=D. R.|date=July 20, 2018|title=Portable Electron Microscopy for Space: To ISS and Beyond|journal=LPI|language=en|issue=2083|pages=2756|bibcode=2018LPI....49.2756O}} a technique which analyzes the energy spectrum of a sample in order to find out the abundance of certain elements.{{Cite web|url=https://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/geochemsheets/eds.html|title=Energy-dispersive detector (EDS)|website=Geochemical Instrumentation and Analysis|language=en|access-date=2020-04-24}} The Mochii comes outfitted with an app that runs on Apple devices that run IOS 8 or higher.

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Category:Scientific equipment

Category:Microscopes

Category:Scanning probe microscopy