Skip Navigation
menu

Images

X-Ray Instrument for Mars 2020 Rover is PIXL

This image show the inner working/body of the PIXL instrument superimposed over a sunset picture of Mars.

July 31, 2014

This diagram depicts the sensor head of the Planetary Instrument for X-RAY Lithochemistry, or PIXL, which has been selected as one of seven investigations for the payload of NASA's Mars 2020 rover mission. PIXL is an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer that will also contain an imager with high resolution to determine the fine-scale elemental composition of Martian surface materials.

Credits

NASA/JPL-Caltech

ENLARGE

Related

Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE) is an exploration technology investigation that will produce oxygen from Martian atmospheric carbon dioxide.
More
Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE) is an exploration technology investigation that will produce oxygen from Martian atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment Instrument for Mars 2020 Rover is MOXIE
The 21st rock core captured by NASA's Perseverance has a composition that would make it good at trapping and preserving signs of microbial life, if any was once present. The sample – shown being ta...
More
The 21st rock core captured by NASA's Perseverance has a composition that would make it good at trapping and preserving signs of microbial life, if any was once present. The sample – shown being taken here – was cored from "Bunsen Peak" on March 11, the 1,088th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
Perseverance Cores 'Bunsen Peak'
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took this color image from an altitude of 33 feet (10 meters) during its fifth flight on May 7, 2021.
More
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took this color image from an altitude of 33 feet (10 meters) during its fifth flight on May 7, 2021.
Ingenuity's View from its Fifth Flight
This image of the rocket-powered descent stage sitting on to of NASA's Perseverance rover was taken in a clean room at Kennedy Space Center on April 29, 2020.
More
Image of the rocket-powered descent stage sitting on top of NASA's Perseverance rover
Perseverance Rover Gets in Launch Shape
Video from the navigation camera aboard NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter shows its record-breaking 25th flight on April 8, 2022. Covering 2,310 feet (704 meters) at a max speed of 12 mph (5.5 meter...
More
Video from the navigation camera aboard NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter shows its record-breaking 25th flight on April 8, 2022. Covering 2,310 feet (704 meters) at a max speed of 12 mph (5.5 meters per second), it was the Red Planet rotorcraft’s longest and fastest flight to date.
Ingenuity Mars Helicopter's Record-Breaking Flight
The Perseverance rover holds many promises: to look for evidence of life on Mars, to collect rock samples meant to be sent to Earth one day, and to test technology that could be used in a future hu...
More
The Perseverance rover holds many promises: to look for evidence of life on Mars, to collect rock samples meant to be sent to Earth one day, and to test technology that could be used in a future human Mars mission.
The Promise of Perseverance
This illustration depicts the aluminum plate with initials of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which designed and built the Mars Perseverance rover. This plate is mounted on the left front of the ...
More
An illustration of an aluminum plate with the initials of JPL in red letters
Jet Propulsion Laboratory Insignia Plate Artwork
NASA’s Perseverance rover was able to use its new Terrain-Relative Navigation technology to avoid hazards and find a safe place to land in Jezero Crater on Mars. 
More
A map used by Perseverance's Terrain-Relative Navigation technology
Avoiding Hazards at Jezero Crater
When our Perseverance Mars rover launches on July 30, it's set to be the first leg of a series of sample return missions in the search for evidence of life beyond Earth.
More
When our Perseverance Mars rover launches on July 30, it's set to be the first leg of a series of sample return missions in the search for evidence of life beyond Earth.
How the Perseverance Mars Rover Will Help NASA Return Mars Samples to Earth
From launch to the journey to Mars to atmospheric entry to surviving on the Martian surface, NASA’s Perseverance rover will have to endure a lot of extreme environments on its way to the Red Planet.
More
From launch to the journey to Mars to atmospheric entry to surviving on the Martian surface, NASA’s Perseverance rover will have to endure a lot of extreme environments on its way to the Red Planet.
Testing Hardware on Earth for a Journey to Mars
This video from NASA’s Perseverance rover shows increasingly close views of an abraded rock at “Wildcat Ridge” in Mars’ Jezero Crater, an area scientists consider one of the best places to search f...
More
This video from NASA’s Perseverance rover shows increasingly close views of an abraded rock at “Wildcat Ridge” in Mars’ Jezero Crater, an area scientists consider one of the best places to search for signs of ancient microbial life.
Zooming in on Perseverance Rover's 'Wildcat Ridge' Abrasion Patch
NASA’s Perseverance rover wiggles one of its wheels in this set of images obtained by the rover’s left Navigation Camera on March 4, 2021.
More
NASA’s Perseverance rover wiggles one of its wheels in this set of images obtained by the rover’s left Navigation Camera on March 4, 2021.
Perseverance Wiggles a Wheel
The nose cone containing NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is maneuvered into place atop its Atlas V rocket. The image was taken at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on July 7, 2020.
More
The nose cone containing NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover
Maneuvering Perseverance
This image shows the remains of an ancient delta in Mars' Jezero Crater, which NASA's Perseverance Mars rover will explore for signs of fossilized microbial life. The image was taken by the High Re...
More
A view of Mars' Jezero Crater
Jezero Crater as Seen by ESA's Mars Express Orbiter
In this artist's concept, a two-stage United Launch Alliance Atlas V launch vehicle speeds the Mars 2020 spacecraft toward the Red Planet. This will be NASA's fifth Mars launch on an Atlas V, which...
More
In this artist's concept, a two-stage United Launch Alliance Atlas V launch vehicle speeds the Mars 2020 spacecraft toward the Red Planet.
Rocket to Mars
A full-scale engineering model of NASA's Perseverance Mars rover now resides in a garage facing the Mars Yard at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
More
Technicians move engineering model of Perseverance
Twin of NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover Moves Into New Home
In this August 5, 2019 image, the bit carousel - the heart of sampling and caching subsystem of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission -  is attached to the front end of the rover.
More
In this August 5, 2019 image, the bit carousel - the heart of sampling and caching subsystem of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission - is attached to the front end of the rover.
Cache and Carry
This annotated image highlights potential routes that NASA’s Perseverance team is considering in September 2022 for the rover to drive from the front of an ancient river delta to the rim of Jezero ...
More
This annotated image highlights potential routes that NASA’s Perseverance team is considering in September 2022 for the rover to drive from the front of an ancient river delta to the rim of Jezero Crater.
Potential Driving Routes for NASA's Perseverance Rover
This artist concept shows the Mars Helicopter, a small, autonomous rotorcraft, which will travel with NASA's Mars 2020 rover mission, currently scheduled to launch in July 2020, to demonstrate the ...
More
This artist concept shows the Mars Helicopter, a small, autonomous rotorcraft, which will travel with NASA's Mars 2020 rover mission.
Mars Helicopter (Artist's Concept)
Calibration Target for the Mars 2020 Scanning Habitable Environ-ments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals (SHERLOC) Instrument.
More
Calibration Target for the Mars 2020 Scanning Habitable Environ-ments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals (SHERLOC) Instrument.
Mars 2020 SHERLOC Calibration Target
PIXL opens its dust cover during testing at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. One of seven instruments on NASA's Perseverance Mars rover, PIXL is located on the end of the rover's robotic arm.
More
Close up image of the PIXL instrument opening lens cover
Perseverance's PIXL Opens its Dust Cover
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover carries two microphones which are directly recording sounds on the Red Planet, including the Ingenuity helicopter and the rover itself at work.
More
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover carries two microphones which are directly recording sounds on the Red Planet, including the Ingenuity helicopter and the rover itself at work.
Open Mic on Mars
PIXL, one of the instruments aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, analyzed the chemical makeup of an area of abraded rock dubbed “Ouzel Falls,” finding it rich in minerals containing phosphate, a...
More
PIXL, one of the instruments aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, analyzed the chemical makeup of an area of abraded rock dubbed “Ouzel Falls,” finding it rich in minerals containing phosphate, a material found in the DNA and cell membranes of all known life.
PIXL Instrument on NASA's Perseverance Studies 'Ouzel Falls'
A portion of a cored-rock sample is ejected from the rotary percussive drill on NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. The imagery was collected by the rover’s Mastcam-Z instrument on Jan. 15, 2022.
More
A portion of a cored-rock sample is ejected from the rotary percussive drill on NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. The imagery was collected by the rover’s Mastcam-Z instrument on Jan. 15, 2022.
Perseverance Expels Rock Fragments
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover carries two commercial-grade microphones, including this one on its mast. The mast microphone is part of the SuperCam instrument.
More
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover carries two commercial-grade microphones, including this one on its mast. The mast microphone is part of the SuperCam instrument.
Perseverance's Mast Microphone

You Might Also Like

The agency is asking the NASA community to work together to develop a revised plan that leverages innovation and proven technology.
More
NASA Sets Path to Return Mars Samples, Seeks Innovative Designs
NASA Sets Path to Return Mars Samples, Seeks Innovative Designs
NASA has proven powered, controlled flight is possible on other worlds, just as the Wright brothers proved it was possible on Earth.
More
After Three Years on Mars, NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter Mission Ends
After Three Years on Mars, NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter Mission Ends
The agency established the board in May 2023 to evaluate the technical, cost, and schedule plans prior to confirmation of the mission’s design.
More
NASA Releases Independent Review's Mars Sample Return Report
NASA Releases Independent Review's Mars Sample Return Report
A pair of quakes in 2021 sent seismic waves deep into the Red Planet’s core, giving scientists the best data yet on its size and composition.
More
NASA InSight Study Provides Clearest Look Ever at Martian Core
NASA InSight Study Provides Clearest Look Ever at Martian Core
Ten sample tubes, capturing an amazing variety of Martian geology, have been deposited on Mars’ surface so they could be studied on Earth in the future.
More
NASA's Perseverance Rover Completes Mars Sample Depot
NASA's Perseverance Rover Completes Mars Sample Depot
Filled with rock, the sample tube will be one of 10 forming a depot of tubes that could be considered for a journey to Earth by the Mars Sample Return campaign.
More
NASA's Perseverance Rover Deposits First Sample on Mars Surface
NASA's Perseverance Rover Deposits First Sample on Mars Surface