PIXL’s Hexapod Has Moves

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Caption:

A device with six mechanical legs, the hexapod is a critical part of the Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL), one of the instruments aboard NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. The hexapod allows PIXL to make slow, precise movements to get closer to and point at specific parts of a rock's surface in order for the instrument to use its X-ray to discover where — and in what quantity — chemicals are distributed there. This GIF has been considerably sped up to show how the hexapod moves.

Background Info:

Both PIXL and Perseverance were built and are operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

For more information about the mission, go to https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ .

Cataloging Keywords:

Name	Value	Additional Values
Target	Mars
System
Target Type	Planet
Mission	Mars 2020
Instrument Host	Perseverance
Host Type	Rover
Instrument	Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithography (PIXL)
Detector
Extra Keywords	Color
Acquisition Date
Release Date	2020-09-22
Date in Caption
Image Credit	NASA/JPL-Caltech
Source	photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24094
Identifier	PIA24094