NASA is experimenting with the use of quantum technology to measure gravity, magnetic fields, and other forces in space. The space agency just tested a brand new tool on board the International Space Station (ISS) to measure the vibrations of the orbital lab using ultra-cold atoms. The quantum tool, called an atom interferometer, uses atoms that are laser-cooled to millionths of a degree above absolute zero to garner precise measurements of the properties of atoms themselves.
That’s even colder than space, which exhibits an ambient temperature 2.725 degrees Kelvin above absolute zero. Although atom interferometers are used on Earth, they were considered too fragile to function for longer periods of time in space.
However, using NASA’s Cold Atom Lab—a facility on the ISS about the size of a mini fridge—scientists proved that it’s possible to use atom interferometers in space. The results of the latest experiment is detailed in a recent study published in Nature Communications . The Cold Atom Lab takes advantage of the microgravity environment on board the ISS to study quantum phenomena.
The lab cools atoms to almost absolute zero, or -459 degrees Fahrenheit (-273 degrees Celsius). At those ultra-cold temperatures, the atoms form a fifth state of matter (unlike solid, liquid, gas, or plasma) called a Bose-Einstein Condensate, which makes the quantum properties of atoms macroscopic rather than microscopic. As a result, the atoms’ properties are easier to observe.
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