Date: Jul 15, 2016 Author: Press Release Source: Physics Connect (
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NASA's planned mission to Mars in 2020 will look for signs of habitable conditions and microbial life in the ancient past. The rover's Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL) is a microfocus x-ray fluorescence instrument that will perform 2D fast mapping of rock samples with sub-mm spatial resolution, revealing the geochemical fine structure of the Martian surface. XIA's technology and expertise is being utilized in the digital signal processing and fast mapping of the x-ray detector signal. PIXL will operate with higher spatial resolution and at higher speed than any previous planetary probe, and along with other instruments, it will help answer the question "Was there every life on Mars?"
