NASA’s Cold Atom Lab (CAL) is conducting quantum physics experiments in microgravity aboard the International Space Station. The lab creates ultra-cold atoms, chilled to about one 10 billionth of a degree above Absolute Zero, to study the fundamental nature of matter. The facility has produced Bose-Einstein Condensates (BECs) from rubidium atoms, a state of matter where atoms act more like waves than particles. CAL is the first of its kind in space and is expected to advance scientists’ ability to make precision measurements of gravity. The project involves scientists such as Robert Thompson, CAL project scientist and physicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
NASA’s Cold Atom Lab: A Quantum Physics Experiment in Space
CAL is a multiuser facility dedicated to studying the fundamental laws of nature using ultra-cold quantum gases in microgravity. Cold atoms, which are long-lived and precisely controlled quantum particles, provide an ideal platform for the study of quantum phenomena and potential applications of quantum technologies. This NASA facility is the first of its kind in space and is designed to advance scientists’ ability to make precision measurements of gravity, probe long-standing problems in quantum physics, and explore the wavelike nature of matter.
The Creation of Bose-Einstein Condensates in Space
CAL scientists have confirmed that the facility has produced Bose-Einstein Condensates (BECs) from atoms of rubidium, with temperatures as low as 100 nanoKelvin, or one ten-millionth of one Kelvin above absolute zero. This is colder than the average temperature of space, which is about 3 Kelvin. The scientists aim to reach temperatures colder than what any BEC experiments have achieved on Earth.
At these ultra-cold temperatures, the atoms in a BEC begin to behave unlike anything else on Earth. BECs are a fifth state of matter, distinct from gases, liquids, solids, and plasma. In a BEC, atoms act more like waves than particles. The wave nature of atoms is typically only observable at microscopic scales, but BECs make this phenomenon macroscopic and thus much easier to study.
The Complexity of the Cold Atom Lab
The Cold Atom Lab is a complex instrument. Typically, BEC experiments involve enough equipment to fill a room and require near-constant scientific monitoring. However, CAL is about the size of a small refrigerator and can be operated remotely from Earth. The first laboratory BECs were produced in 1995, but the phenomenon was first predicted 71 years earlier by physicists Satyendra Nath Bose and Albert Einstein.
The Advantages of Conducting BEC Experiments in Space
BECs are created in atom traps or frictionless containers made of magnetic fields or focused lasers. On Earth, when these traps are shut off, gravity pulls on the ultra-cold atoms and can only be studied for a fraction of a second. The persistent microgravity of the space station allows scientists to observe individual BECs for five to 10 seconds at a time, with the ability to repeat these measurements for up to six hours per day.
The Future of the Cold Atom Lab
The Cold Atom Lab is currently in a commissioning phase, in which the operations team conducts a long series of tests to understand how the CAL facility operates in microgravity fully. The science phase is expected to begin in early September and last three years. The Cold Atom Laboratory launched to the space station on May 21, 2018, aboard a Northrop Grumman spacecraft from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
“Having a BEC experiment operating on the space station is a dream come true,” said Robert Thompson, CAL project scientist and a physicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. “It’s been a long, hard road to get here, but completely worth the struggle because there’s so much we’re going to be able to do with this facility.”
“CAL is an extremely complicated instrument,” said Robert Shotwell, chief engineer of JPL’s astronomy and physics directorate, who has overseen the challenging project since February 2017. “Typically, BEC experiments involve enough equipment to fill a room and require near-constant monitoring by scientists, whereas CAL is about the size of a small refrigerator and can be operated remotely from Earth. It was a struggle and required significant effort to overcome all the hurdles necessary to produce the sophisticated facility that’s operating on the space station today.”
“There is a globe-spanning team of scientists ready and excited to use this facility,” said Kamal Oudrhiri, JPL’s mission manager for CAL. “The diverse range of experiments they plan to perform means there are many techniques for manipulating and cooling the atoms that we need to adapt for microgravity before we turn the instrument over to the principal investigators to begin science operations.”
Quick Summary
NASA’s Cold Atom Lab aboard the International Space Station is conducting quantum physics experiments using ultra-cold atoms, chilled to about one 10 billionth of a degree above Absolute Zero, to investigate the fundamental nature of matter. The facility, the first of its kind in space, allows scientists to make precision measurements of gravity, explore the wavelike nature of matter, and observe a fifth state of matter, distinct from gases, liquids, solids and plasma, where atoms act more like waves than particles.
- NASA’s Cold Atom Lab (CAL) is conducting quantum physics experiments in microgravity aboard the International Space Station.
- The CAL cools atoms to about one 10 billionth of a degree above Absolute Zero, which is colder than the average temperature of deep space.
- This allows scientists to study the fundamental nature of matter and make precision measurements of gravity.
- The facility has produced Bose-Einstein Condensates (BECs) from rubidium atoms, a state of matter where atoms act more like waves than particles.
- CAL is the first facility of its kind in space and can be operated remotely from Earth.
- The microgravity environment allows scientists to observe individual BECs for longer periods than on Earth.
- The CAL team is also working towards making BECs using two different isotopes of potassium atoms.
- The project is overseen by Robert Thompson, CAL project scientist and physicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Robert Shotwell, chief engineer of JPL’s astronomy and physics directorate.
- The Cold Atom Laboratory was launched to the space station on May 21, 2018, aboard a Northrop Grumman spacecraft.
