Terra對月球土壤樣本中礦物和玻璃體的XRD分析

       The CheMin X-Ray Diffraction/XRay Fluorescence (XRD/XRF) instrument has been chosen to fly on the 2009 MSL mission to Mars (1). A similar instrument would add significant capability to lunar surface measurements on robotic missions and at a lunar outpost. We have measured the mineralogy of lunar soil samples a using newly developed fieldportable version of the flight instrument, called miniCheMin (sold commercially by inXitu as Terra). The preliminary results indicate that miniCheMin can determine the abundances of minerals and glass in a range of lunar soil samples.