PIXL (Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry) is the high-resolution X-ray fluorescence spectrometer on NASA’s perseverance-rover. It maps fine-scale elemental abundance on a few-hundred-micron scale, localizing geochemical signals first detected at coarser resolution by instruments like supercam.
PIXL refined the spatial distribution of the nickel-rich iron sulfides in the neretva-vallis bedrock (see src-perseverance-neretva-nickel-rocks-2026-04) and earlier supported the Cheyava Falls biosignature analysis (see src-mars-perseverance-biosignature-2025).