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

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.