Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Title:
Super Rover's X-Ray Vision
Original Caption Released with Image:
Located on the arm of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer uses alpha particles and X-rays to determine the chemical make up of martian rocks and soils. This type of information helps scientists understand how the planet's crust was weathered and formed. Mars Exploration Rover team members used this palm-sized instrument on a small patch of martian soil just after Spirit rolled off the Columbia Memorial Station. They found that although the soil was very similar to what they had seen previously on Mars, the instrument's improved sensitivity allowed them to see new elements and subtle differences not detected before.
Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Max-Planck- Institute for Chemistry
Produced By:
JPL
Mission:
Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
Spacecraft:
Spirit
Instrument:
Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer
Product Size:
1620 samples x 1431 lines
facet_what:
Spectrometer
facet_what:
Spirit
facet_what:
Mars
facet_what:
Planck
facet_what:
Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer
facet_what:
Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
facet_what:
Columbia
facet_where:
Mars
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
Image #:
PIA05113
UID:
SPD-PHOTJ-PIA05113
orignial url:

Super Rover's X-Ray Vision