NASA used a quantum sensor in space for the first time – it detected how the ISS vibrates

NASA scientists for the first time remotely conducted an experiment to measure the quantum states of ultracold atoms. Thanks to weightlessness, the quantum device installed on board the ISS has gained unimaginable sensitivity, which makes it possible to measure, for example, the movement of masses of water and ice in the Earth’s oceans. The first measurement of the installation was the otherwise imperceptible vibrations of the space station. The device detected how it trembled in its orbital movement.

Cold Atom Laboratory. Image source: NASA

The NASA Cold Atom Laboratory installation is the size of a small refrigerator. In it, atoms are cooled to a temperature slightly above absolute zero. The device was delivered into orbit in 2018. This is an atomic interferometer – a new direction in measuring many physical quantities and phenomena by assessing the quantum states of ultracold atoms.

As is known, elementary particles also behave like waves. This means that an atom can move along at least two physical trajectories. Each of them will be affected by gravity or other influences (forces). These influences can be measured simply by observing the interference of waves – their recombination and interaction. The sensitivity of such sensors is amazing. They can detect gravitational vibrations of planets and their satellites, and, based on the data obtained, provide information about the density and composition of the rocks of celestial bodies, and can also discover as yet undiscovered objects.

Strong cooling makes it possible to depersonalize individual atoms, transforming them into the state of Bose-Einstein condensate. Thus, large clusters of atoms acquire identical quantum states and quantum phenomena migrate from the microworld to the macroworld. Simply put, we have the opportunity to measure the quantum states of atoms without descending to their level, which is much simpler and more accessible.

NASA’s experiments with ultracold atom sensors will go much further than measuring space station vibrations (which, it should be understood, will interfere with the measurements). The first quantum sensor in zero gravity will help in planetary research, in studying the Earth’s climate and even in searching for sources of dark matter and dark energy, as well as in another approach to prove Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. Let not only the ISS, but also the secrets of the Universe tremble now – we have come for them.