Mg measurement computing instacal manual#
Mg measurement computing instacal software#

The instrument is now ready to collect a spectrum.įigure 3. Wait one to two minutes for the detector to cool down. The laptop should beep when it recognizes the connection to the instrument. Connect USB cable to the laptop computer and turn on the instrument with the key switch. All cables must be connected before turning on the main power. An interlock cable connects to the safety interlock switch on the radiation safety enclosure to prevent accidental exposure. The instrument must be used in a radiation safety enclosure long) permanently attached to connect it to the Control Unit. There are three cables connecting the Interface and Control units, and the Head Unit has an umbilical cable (15 ft. A laptop computer is used to control the instrument. The instrument consists of the XRF Interface Unit, the XRF Control Unit, and the XRF Head Unit (Figure 2). (from left to right) Borehole XRFS Head Unit, X-ray warning light, umbilical cable, X-ray Interface and Control units, and laptop computer. Together these two subsystems measure the X-ray spectrum of the specimen.įigure 2. The energy-dispersive X-ray detector detects the emitted X-rays, determines their energy (the energy-dispersive function), and counts the X-rays at each energy. The source provides the X-rays to excite the specimen of regolith being investigated. The main subsystems are the X-ray source and the energy-dispersive X-ray detector. The spectrometer consists of two main subsystems packaged in three physical units. X-ray fluorescence spectrometer Head Unit designed to be deployed down a pre-drilled hole to analyze subsurface elements. It also provides a user interface to control the measurements and display the results.įigure 1.

Mg measurement computing instacal software#

A software package operates the spectrometer, acquires the data, and analyzes the spectrum to provide elements and their weight fractions. By measuring the intensity of the peaks, the amount of each element can be determined. By measuring the energy of the X-rays, elements are identified. These characteristic X-rays produce peaks in the Xray spectrum.

The spectrometer excites atoms in the regolith and causes them to emit their characteristic X-rays.

Mg measurement computing instacal manual#

User’s Manual Overview The X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRFS) is designed to be deployed down a predrilled hole for exploration and elemental analysis of subsurface planetary regolith (Figure 2 and Figure 10). 39 Test Plan Summary.41 Results.42 Conclusions.52 Appendices.53 34 Spectrum Processing (SP).36 Spectrum Display (SD).36 Instrument Performance Report. 31 Save and Load Parameters (PAR).33 Save and Load Spectrum (SSF). 40 Hardware Description.23 XRF Interface Unit.23 XRF Control Unit.26 Software Description. 15 Typical Operation.19 Determining the Minimum Detection Limit (MDL). 1 Overview.1 Borehole XRFS Software Installation.

The University of Washington effort was funded under NASA contract NNL05AA49C.Ĭontents User’s Manual. The performance reported here is due to their efforts. The XRF spectrometer design and construction were performed by the Ocean Engineering Department of the Applied Physics Laboratory: Russ Light, Vern Miller, Pete Sabin, Fran Olson, Tim Wen, and Dan Stearns. We are indebted to the program managers, Suparna Mukherjee and Chester Chu, for their guidance. APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY_Īcknowledgments This project was funded by NASA Headquarters as part of the Mars Technology Program, Subsurface Access Task, administered by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.CAUTION CAUTION CAUTIONĪpplied Physics Laboratory University of Washington 1013 NE 40th Street Seattle, Washington 98105-6698 This device produces X-rays when energized.

Willard-Schmoe2 1NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 2Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle Approved for public release distribution is unlimited.īorehole X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (XRFS): User's Manual, Software Description, and Performance Report built by APL-UW under a NASA contract from the Langley Research Center W.C.