ABSTRACT
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Within the last decade, public support for large-scale space missions has slowly
decreased and there has been a strong incentive to make them ‘‘faster, better,
cheaper.’’ Reducing the development time for space instruments can have the
advantage of having the latest, most capable technology available, but it runs the
risk of reducing the reliability through lack of testing. The major cost saver for
space missions is a reduction of launch cost by reducing the weight of the spacecraft
and the instrument. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) provide an oppor-
tunity to reduce the weight of the scientific instruments.
