The Department of Chemistry invites you to its upcoming departmental seminar on Monday, October 12, at 4:10 p.m. in Fulmer Hall, room 201.
Dr. Tim Elam from the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory and the PIXL Team will present, Quantitative MicroXRF on Mars2020: the Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry.
Abstract: The Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL) is a MicroXRF spectrometer to be deployed on the arm of the next Mars rover, slated for launch in 2020. It will utilize a miniature X-ray tube, a polycapillary optic, and a silicon drift detector to obtain fast, high quality XRF spectra with about 100 micrometer spatial resolution. This talk will start with a brief overview of the Mars 2020 mission followed by more detail about PIXL hardware, status, and test results. The main part of the talk will focus on how data from the instrument will be analyzed for quantitative elemental abundances, how imaging provides information about rock morphology, and how the imaging and quantitative capabilities can be used in concert to provide information about biosignatures, taphonomy, mineralogy, petrogenesis, and other complex questions about rocks on Mars.
