The palpable tension of the NASA engineers during the successful live landing of Mars Perseverance Rover a few weeks ago caught the imagination of many. Unsurprisingly so, considering the amount of dedication required to plan, design, build and test such a piece of sophisticated equipment that will eventually provide scientists with valuable information on our neighboring planet.

These extreme feats of engineering and technology not only draw on scientific research already available from planet Earth’s scientific community, but also pave the way for new advancements. Extreme atmospheric and gravitational conditions and the payload limitations of the transport vehicle (ATLAS V) mean that the functional instruments on the Rover must be of unique design. Rigaku provides analytical instruments to support research into much of the equipment you might find on a Mars Rover, including solar panels, semiconductor chips, sensors and optics.

In fact, the Perseverance is equipped with an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer called PIXL, not unlike Rigaku’s Supermini200, to “seek changes in textures and chemicals in Martian rocks and soil left behind by any ancient microbial life.” It is very compact, about the size of a lunchbox, weighing in at 10 pounds. Miniaturization often brings advantages such as increased data storage and reduced power consumption, all factors that technology manufacturers strive to achieve when designing new products.