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About

Bernice Yen is a leading aerospace engineer specializing in in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) and planetary sample acquisition, with a focus on enabling sustainable human exploration of Mars and extreme environments like Venus. Her most impactful work centers on the **RedWater system**, a novel drilling and water extraction technology designed to harvest water ice from Martian mid-latitude glaciers—identified via SHARAD radar data—for life support and fuel production. Yen’s research has demonstrated a TRL 4/5 prototype that combines proven terrestrial drilling and melting techniques, directly addressing a critical gap in Mars mission architecture. Her contributions extend to sample delivery mechanisms, where she developed a fast, rotary-percussive drill for Venus’s harsh surface, successfully testing a full-scale prototype on saddleback basalt. With over 30 citations across her top papers, Yen’s work has been recognized for its practical, hardware-focused approach, bridging the gap between planetary science and engineering. Her achievements include leading the design of pneumatic sample transfer systems that outperform traditional mechanical methods, offering faster, more reliable sample acquisition for missions to Mars, Venus, and beyond.