NASA Heritage
Our staff is engaged in a number of research programs associated with NASA and the SETI Institute.
CheMin: XRD/XRF on Mars
The technology used in our XRD/XRF instruments, including Duetto, derives directly from the NASA CheMin XRD/XRF instrument deployed on Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), also know as the Curiosity rover.
XTRA: eXtraTerrestrial Regolith Analyzer
The eXtraTerrestrial Regolith Analyzer (XTRA) will provide quantitative mineralogy and elemental composition of as-received lunar soil. XTRA is suitable for a small lunar lander or rover, but variants of XTRA could be used by astronauts in a lunar habitat as well.
MapX: 2D XRF for Planetary Exploration
Map-X is a planetary instrument concept for 2D X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy. It produces elemental maps with about 100 μm spatial resolution and simultaneously provides quantitative elemental chemistry of regions of interest. The instrument is placed directly on the surface of an object and held in a fixed position during the measurement.