Planetary Instrument for X-Ray Lithochemistry

X-ray fluorescence spectrometer to determine the elemental composition of Martian soil "PIXL" redirects here. For other uses, see PIXL (disambiguation).

Mars *Perseverance* rover - PIXL studies a rock (artist concept)

Planetary Instrument for X-Ray Lithochemistry (PIXL) is an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer to determine the fine scale elemental composition of Martian surface materials designed for the Perseverance rover as part of the Mars 2020 mission.

PIXL is manufactured and made by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Science objectives

The scientific objectives of the instrument are the following:

Provide detailed geochemical assessment of past environments, habitability, and biosignature preservation potential.
Detect any potential chemical biosignatures that are encountered and characterize the geochemistry of any other types of potential biosignatures detected.
Provide a detailed geochemical basis for selection of a compelling set of samples for return to Earth.

Gallery

*Perseverance* rover - PIXL (31 July 2014).

PIXL − first chemical maps of a single rock on Mars (20 July 2021)

Perseverance analyzes Rochette rock (August 2021)

Rover studies rock

After abrading rock

Bellegarde patch

WATSON view

PIXL view Planetary Instrument for X-Ray Lithochemistry (PIXL)

Uncovered

Hexapod

Nightlight

CalibrationX-ray fluorescence spectrometer developed for the Perseverance rover to analyze the chemistry of surface materials.

References

Scholia has a topic profile for Planetary Instrument for X-Ray Lithochemistry.

Webster, Guy (31 July 2014). "Mars 2020 Rover's PIXL to Focus X-Rays on Tiny Targets". NASA. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
"Adaptive sampling for rover X-ray lithochemistry" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-08.
"Mars 2020 Mission Perseverance Rover: PIXL".

External links

Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry - NASA Mars

Mars 2020

Timeline of Mars 2020

Payloads

Rover instruments

Features

Proposed
landing sites

Selected	Jezero crater
Finalists	Columbia Hills in Gusev crater Jezero crater Syrtis Major Planum
Other	Eberswalde crater Holden crater Mawrth Vallis Nili Fossae Melas Chasma

Category
Solar System portal

Mars

Outline of Mars

Geography

Atmosphere	Circulation Climate Dust devil tracks Methane
Regions	Arabia Terra Cerberus (Mars) Cydonia Eridania Lake Iani Chaos Olympia Undae Planum Australe Planum Boreum Quadrangles Sinus Meridiani Tempe Terra Terra Cimmeria Terra Sabaea Tharsis Undae Ultimi Scopuli Vastitas Borealis
Physical features	"Canals" (list) Canyons Catenae Chaos terrain Craters Fossae Gullies Mensae Labyrinthi Mountains by height Observed rocks Outflow channels Plains Valley network Valleys Gravity
Geology	Brain terrain Carbonates Chaos terrain Color Composition Concentric crater fill Dark slope streak Dichotomy Fretted terrain Geysers Glaciers Groundwater Gullies Lakes Lava tubes Lobate debris apron Marsquake Meteorites on Earth on Mars Mud cracks North Polar Basin Ocean theory Ore resources Polar caps polar wander Recurring slope lineae (RSL) Ring mold craters Rootless cones Seasonal flows Soil Spherules Surface "Swiss cheese" feature Terrain softening Tharsis bulge Volcanism Water Yardangs
History	Amazonian Hesperian Noachian Observation history Classical albedo features

Astronomy

Moons	Phobos Stickney crater Limtoc crater Monolith Deimos Swift crater Voltaire crater
Transits	Solar eclipses on Mars Satellite transits Phobos Deimos Planetary transits Earth Mercury
Asteroids	Impacts Mars-crossers 2007 WD5 Trojans 5261 Eureka 1998 VF₃₁ 1999 UJ₇ 2007 NS₂
Comets	C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring)
General	Orbit

Exploration

Concepts	Flyby Orbiter Landing Rover Sample return Human mission Permanent settlement Colonization Terraforming
Missions	List of missions to Mars
Advocacy	The Mars Project The Case for Mars Inspiration Mars Foundation Mars Institute Mars Society Mars race

Science instruments on satellites and spacecraft

Radar

Radio science

Radiometer

Microwave

Near-Earth	AQUA AMR-C (Sentinel-6) AMSR-E (AQUA) AMSR (ADEOS II) AMSR2 (Shizuku) DMSP 5D-2/F13-F15 DMSP 5D-2/F16 ERSS Envisat GPM Core Kanopus-ST MIRAS MISR, MOPITT (Terra) MSR (MOS-1, MOS-1b) MTVZA (Meteor-3M-1) MTVZA-GYa Meteor-M2 Meteor-M2-1 Nimbus 7 RM-08 and MTVZA-OK (Sich-1M) Seasat Sentinel-3 SMAP SMMR SMOS SSM/I SSMIS TRMM WSF-M Zond-PP
Interplanetary	Cassini-Huygens Electra (radio) Mariner 2 MWR (Juno) Rosetta

Infrared-visible

Near-Earth

AVHRR
ASTER, MISR (Terra)
AIRS
AVNIR
AVNIR-2
CERES (TRMM, Terra, Aura, Suomi NPP, NOAA-20)
ERBS
ERSS
GLI (ADEOS II)
Kanopus-V-IK
MESSR and VTIR
- MOS-1
- 1b
Meteor-2
MODIS (Terra, Aqua)
OPS (JERS-1)
ORI (EURECA)
Radiation Budget Instrument
SGLI (GCOM-C)
SLSTR (Sentinel-3)
VIIRS (Suomi NPP, NOAA-21)

Interplanetary

COMARS+ (on Schiaparelli)
Diviner (on LRO)
HP3 (on InSight)

Ultraviolet (UV)

Near-Earth	ORI (EURECA) LYRA Proba-2

Spectrophotometers

Long wavelength

Interplanetary	ISO

Visible-IR (VIRS)

Near-Earth	CASE MOMS Multispectral Scanner SCIAMACHY TES TRMM
Interplanetary	AKARI Rosalind Franklin rover MA-MISS ISEM Infrared Space Observatory IRIS (Voyager 1 and 2) JIRAM (on Juno) M Mariner 6 and 7 MESSENGER MERIS E-THEMIS, MISE, SUDA (on Europa Clipper) Ralph SPICAM SPICAV Venus Emissivity Mapper

UV-visible (UVVS)

Interplanetary	Alice Mariner 6 and 7 Mariner 10 MESSENGER NOMAD SPICAM SPICAV UVS Voyager 1 2

Raman

Interplanetary	Raman Laser Spectrometer (Rosalind Franklin rover) SHERLOC (Perseverance rover)

Magnetometer

Near-Earth

Interplanetary

FIELDS
Pioneer 10
11
Voyager 1
2
MAG (Juno)
ICEMAG and PIMS (Europa Clipper)

Triaxial fluxgate

Near-Earth	Swarm
Interplanetary	Cassini–Huygens FIELDS Magsat Mariner 2 4 5 10 MESSENGER Pioneer 11 Venus Express

Helium vapor

Near-Earth	Swarm
Interplanetary	Cassini–Huygens

Particle
detectors

Ion detectors

Near-Earth	DEMETER TPMU and DSLP Proba-2
Interplanetary	ASPERA-3 ASPERA-4 Mariner 2 SPS Ulysses

Neutral particle detector

Interplanetary	ADRON-RM (Rosalind Franklin rover) ASPERA-3 (on Mars Express) ASPERA-4 (on Venus Express) DAN (on Curiosity) FREND (on ExoMars TGO) Nozomi SPS (on Mariner 2) Ulysses