X‐Rays Analysis for Space Sciences: X‐Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy

International audienceX-ray analysis was introduced at the beginning of the twentieth century, right after the discovery of X-rays. It represents a specific group of methods of investigation of samples that share the same probe, the X-rays, and produces nondestructive, highly varied results of the intrinsic properties of specimens. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is the main method of X-ray analysis and, as such, constitutes the subject of this article, where it is applied to the priceless astromaterials, better known as extraterrestrial samples. These comprise recorded falls (meteorites), samples collected in space, and sample return mission (SRM) specimens brought back to Earth by space missions, or simply by in situ measurements on Solar System bodies, or from remote orbital or flyby analyses thereof