Ground-based verification and data processing of Yutu rover Active Particle-induced X-ray Spectrometer

TL;DR

This paper reports on ground-based tests of the Yutu rover's APXS instrument, demonstrating its capability to accurately determine major element abundances in unknown samples with specific detection limits and optimal measurement conditions.

Contribution

It provides a detailed methodology for ground verification and data analysis of the APXS, establishing performance benchmarks for planetary surface analysis.

Findings

Major elements can be measured with <15% deviation at 30mm distance and 30 min acquisition.

Detection limits depend on acquisition time and distance, with optimal distance <50mm.

The experiment validates the APXS's effectiveness for planetary exploration.

Abstract

The Active Particle-induced X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) is one of the payloads on board the Yutu rover of Chang'E-3 mission. In order to assess the instrumental performance of APXS, a ground verification test was done for two unknown samples (basaltic rock, mixed powder sample). In this paper, the details of the experiment configurations and data analysis method are presented. The results show that the elemental abundance of major elements can be well determined by the APXS with relative deviations < 15 wt. % (detection distance = 30 mm, acquisition time = 30 min). The derived detection limit of each major element is inversely proportional to acquisition time and directly proportional to detection distance, suggesting that the appropriate distance should be < 50mm.