XTRA: A miniature XRD/XRF regolith analyzer for planetary missions to airless bodies

XTRA is a miniature XRD/XRF instrument intended for use on small rovers and landers destined for solid solar system objects without substantive atmospheres (i.e., the Earth's Moon, asteroids, comets, Mercury, or the moons of Mars. The technology of XTRA derives from the CheMin XRD/XRF instrument on Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), augmented by improvements developed through Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grants and commercial product developments. XTRA utilizes a reflection geometry, a microfocus X-ray tube and a cooled CCD operated in direct detection mode. The reflection geometry allows for fine-grained regolith to be scooped and dumped into sample holders which are shaken during analysis to improve diffraction statistics during XRD pattern acquisition.