A Small CNT-FE X-Ray Tube for Future Japanese Lunar Landing Mission

A miniaturized x-ray tube specialized for in-situ geological and petrological x-ray analyses of rocks and powder samples on the lunar surface is being developed. Our primary motivation for the miniaturized x-ray tube is to mount on spacecraft for a future Japanese lunar lander/rover mission [1], which is the next Japanese lunar exploration program to the SELENE lunar orbiter, and perform remote controlled x-ray generators for in-situ geological x-ray analyses of lunar surface soil samples. Possible x-ray instruments for the mission would be: the x-ray fluorescence and diffraction analyzer on the lander [2], the x- ray fluorescence spectrometer mounted on the arm of the rover and in the "mole unit" for the investigations of underground. All above instruments requires a miniaturized x- ray tube fulfilling enough lightweight and downsized volume, low power consumption, and stable performance under the space operations while mission term.