Texture-specific elemental analysis of rocks and soils with PIXL: The Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry on Mars 2020

Author

Allwood, Abigail ; Clark, Ben ; Flannery, David ; Hurowitz, Joel ; Wade, Lawrence ; Elam, Tim ; Foote, Marc ; Knowles, Emily

Author_Institution

Caltech/Jet Propulsion Lab., Pasadena, CA, USA

fYear

2015

fDate

7-14 March 2015

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

13

Abstract

PIXL (Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry) is a micro-focus X-ray fluorescence instrument for examining fine scale chemical variations in rocks and soils on planetary surfaces. Selected for flight on the science payload for the proposed Mars 2020 rover, PIXL can measure elemental chemistry of tiny features observed in rocks, such as individual sand grains, veinlets, cements, concretions and crystals, using a 100 μm-diameter, high-flux X-ray beam that can be scanned across target surfaces.

Keywords

Mars; planetary composition; planetary rocks; planetary rovers; planetary surfaces; Mars rover; PIXL; Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry; biosignature preservation; chemical mapping; elemental chemistry; fine scale chemical variations; fluorescent X-ray count rates; focused X-ray source; high-flux X-ray beam; microfocus X-ray fluorescence instrument; polycapillary X-ray focusing optic; rapid spectral acquisition; raster scanning capability; rock texture-specific elemental analysis; soil texture-specific elemental analysis; state-of-the-art miniature microfocus X-ray tube; Biomedical optical imaging; Extraterrestrial measurements; Fluorescence; Optical reflection; Optical sensors; Rocks;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Aerospace Conference, 2015 IEEE

Conference_Location

Big Sky, MT

Print_ISBN

978-1-4799-5379-0

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/AERO.2015.7119099

Filename

7119099