Laboratory Tests of a Handheld X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer: A Tool for Planetary Exploration

Maximizing the science return from a mission to another planetary surface involves the integration of science objectives with deployable technologies that enable the collection of data and samples. For long duration manned missions, it is likely that more samples will be collected than can be returned to Earth due to mass limits. A niche exists for technologies that help prioritize samples for return, provide data for future sample handling and curation, and characterization for samples that are not returned to Earth. To fill this niche, hardware and protocols for field instruments are currently being developed and evaluated at NASA Johnson Space Center and Arizona State University. Our goal is to develop an easily used, environmentally isolated facility as part of the astronaut surface habitat for preliminary sample characterization and down-selection. NASA has constructed a prototype, GeoLab, as a testbed for evaluating the scientific applicability and operational considerations of various analytical instruments. One instrument under evaluation is a small, portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer that can be also be used by astronaut explorers as part of their field gear while on scientific sorties, or on robotic field assistants. We report on preliminary usability tests for commercially available handheld XRF instruments. These instruments collect data by contacting the surface of a rock or sediment sample with an 8 mm-wide sensor window. Within 60 seconds, the devices can provide relatively precise data on the abundance of major and trace elements heavier than Na. Lab-based handheld XRF analyses of terrestrial and lunar samples, compared with those made with full-scale laboratory XRF systems, show good correlation, but we continue to investigate potential sources of error and the need for careful calibration with standards of known composition. Specifically, we use a suite of five terrestrial and five lunar basalts, all well characterized by conventional XRF technology, to evaluate the handheld technology. All of these samples are fine-grained and homogeneous, and were selected to eliminate effects introduced to the data by inconsistencies in the sample matrix, or added complexities like increased vesicularity or phenocryst content. Our calibration curves are built from smooth, sawed surfaces. We have examined all major elements, minus Na (which falls below the instrument sensitivity). Initial tests show that reproducible and reliable calibration curves are produced for Ca, Fe, Al, Ti, and Si, but the curves produced for Mg, Mn, K and P include greater uncertainties. We are currently investigating how the instrument signal variably drops off as a function of surface roughness and distance to the instrument window. Through studies such as these in the simulated GeoLab setting, we can better understand the instrument's capabilities in a field environment, both on Earth and for potential future missions to other planetary surfaces.