and a beryllium window, a specimen holder, an analyzing crystal, a goniometer, and an X-ray detector device. These are arranged as shown in Fig. 1. The continuous X-spectrum emitted from the tube irradiates the specimen and excites the characteristic spectral X-ray lines in the specimen. Each of the 92 elements emits a characteristic spectrum. Unlike the optical spectrum, the X-ray spectrum is quite simple. The strongest line, usually the Kalpha line, but sometimes the Lalpha line, suffices to identify the element. The existence of a particular line betrays the existence of an element, and the intensity is proportional to the amount of the particular element in the specimen. The characteristic lines are reflected from a crystal, the analyzer, under an angle that is given by the Bragg condition. The crystal samples all the diffraction angles theta by rotation, while the detector rotates over the corresponding angle 2-theta. With a sensitive detector, the X-ray photons are counted individually. By stepping the detectors along the angle, and leaving it in position for a known time, the number of counts at each angular position gives the line intensity. These counts may be plotted on a curve by an appropriate display unit. The characteristic X-rays come out at specific angles, and since the angular position for every X-ray spectral line is known and recorded, it is easy to find the sample's composition. A chart for a scan of a Molybdenum specimen is shown in Fig. 2. The tall peak on the left side is the characteristic alpha line at a two theta of 12 degrees. Second and third order lines also appear. Since the alpha line is often the only line of interest in many industrial applications, the final device in the Norelco X- ray spectrographic instrument line was the Autrometer. This device could be programmed to automatically read at any desired two theta angle for any desired time interval. Soon after the Autrometer was introduced, Philips decided to stop marketing X-ray instruments developed in both the U.S. and Europe and settled on offering only the Eindhoven line of instruments. In 1961, during the development of the Autrometer, Norelco was given a sub-contract from the Jet Propulsion Lab. The Lab was working on the instrument package for the Surveyor spaceship. The composition of the moon’s surface was of major interest and the use of an X-ray detection instrument was viewed as a possible solution.