X-ray fluorescence analysis of rocks from other planets

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectra for a number of rock samples from Mars, the Moon, and Mercury have been measured at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) beamline in the BESSY II electron storage ring. In the future, both ESA and NASA will send spacecraft to Mercury. Remote X-ray sensing is planned to obtain chemical composition mapping on the planetary surface. The present synchrotron XRF spectra will be used as valuable reference for the analysis. For more information, see the paper, "Measuring and Interpreting X-ray Fluorescence from Planetary Surfaces", A. Owens et al., Anal. Chem., 80, 8398-8405 (2008).