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Coldest Spot in Universe Should Soon Be Aboard International Space Station

By Elizabeth Howell
March 8, 2017 07:10am ET

The International Space Station (ISS) will soon host the coldest spot in the entire universe, if everything goes according to plan.

This August, NASA plans to launch to the ISS an experiment that will freeze atoms to only 1 billionth of a degree above absolute zero — more than 100 million times colder than the far reaches of deep space, agency officials said.

The instrument suite, which is about the size of an ice chest, is called the Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL). It consists of lasers, a vacuum chamber and an electromagnetic "knife" that together will slow down gas particles until they are almost motionless. (Remember that temperature is just a measurement of how fast atoms and molecules are moving.) [Watch a video about the CAL]

If successful, CAL could help unlock some of the universe's deepest mysteries, project leaders said.

"Studying these hypercold atoms could reshape our understanding of matter and the fundamental nature of gravity," Robert Thompson, a CAL project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, said in a statement. "The experiments we'll do with the Cold Atom Lab will give us insight into gravity and dark energy — some of the most pervasive forces in the universe."

Attempts to create Bose-Einstein condensates on Earth have been only partially successful to date. Because everything on Earth is subject to the pull of gravity, atoms and molecules tend to move toward the ground. This means the effects can only be seen for fractions of a second. In space, where the ISS is in perpetual freefall, CAL could preserve these structures for 5 to 10 seconds, NASA officials said. (Future versions of CAL may be able to hold on for hundreds of seconds, if technology improves as expected, officials added.)

The researchers hope CAL observations will lead to the improvement of several technologies, such as quantum computers, atomic clocks for spacecraft navigation and sensors of various types — including some that could help detect dark energy. The current model of the universe suggests we can only see about 5 percent of what's out there. The remainder is split between dark matter (27 percent) and dark energy (68 percent).

"This means that even with all of our current technologies, we are still blind to 95 percent of the universe," JPL's Kamal Oudrhiri, CAL deputy project manager, said in the same statement. "Like a new lens in Galileo's first telescope, the ultra-sensitive cold atoms in the Cold Atom Lab have the potential to unlock many mysteries beyond the frontiers of known physics."

CAL, which was developed at JPL, is scheduled to fly to the ISS this August aboard SpaceX's robotic Dragon cargo capsule. Final testing is underway ahead of CAL's shipment to the launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, NASA officials said.

Very interesting. Wonder what happens when they thaw out the sample? Anything short of continuing to force the cold condition is bound to be consider a rapid warm up.

Matter two places at the same time, atoms changing to waves, and 3 stages of matter being irrelevant have given me brain freeze.

And that right there is what I want NASA to be involved in. There's an infinite amount of research that can and should be executed by NASA in space that can benefit much of mankind. No more 'distractions' for this agency.

Important research. How fast can we chill our beer.

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Originally posted by bigdeal:
And that right there is what I want NASA to be involved in. There's an infinite amount of research that can and should be executed by NASA in space that can benefit much of mankind. No more 'distractions' for this agency.

^^^^^Amen!

No more "Moslem outreach" bullshit.

Dark matter and dark energy are fudge factors to make the theories align with observed reality.

Do they really want us to believe that the vast majority of the matter in the universe only interacts with our normal matter via gravity, and then only at galactic distances. And dark energy only interacts with normal matter in an anti-gravitational manner, and only at even greater distances than what dark matter operates on.

A more rational method of making the theories align with observations is to posit that the gravitational constant is actually very slightly variable. But THAT is too radical an idea for physicists, despite never having any evidence that gravity is truly constant. It's just an assumption they make.

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This is freaking cool

quote:

Originally posted by Nuclear:
Dark matter and dark energy are fudge factors to make the theories align with observed reality.

Do they really want us to believe that the vast majority of the matter in the universe only interacts with our normal matter via gravity, and then only at galactic distances. And dark energy only interacts with normal matter in an anti-gravitational manner, and only at even greater distances than what dark matter operates on.

A more rational method of making the theories align with observations is to posit that the gravitational constant is actually very slightly variable. But THAT is too radical an idea for physicists, despite never having any evidence that gravity is truly constant. It's just an assumption they make.

They do love their variables...makes fitting data an easier chore.

Might not be the coldest place in the universe anymore, but Pittsburgh in February still has the title for the greyest place. We're #1, We're #1!

"...This August, NASA plans to launch to the ISS an experiment that will freeze atoms to only 1 billionth of a degree above absolute zero — more than 100 million times colder than the far reaches of deep space, agency officials said...."

Amazing to me is the instrumentation that can measure to a billionth of a degree, especially near absolute zero! Guess Northern Tool will not have it, or maybe the Chinese will be copying soon?
How do astrophysicists measure temperatures at the far reaches of deep space? Guess the math must be pretty serious with a minimum of variables?

Hey, look at that...NASA engaging in science!

Not that this experiment wasn't in the planning stages for quite some time, but it's hopefully a sign of things to come.

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Originally posted by Oat_Action_Man:
Hey, look at that...NASA engaging in science!

Not that this experiment wasn't in the planning stages for quite some time, but it's hopefully a sign of things to come.

Much of the science that NASA ends up doing get done not by planning, but by a small group of dedicated scientists who just persist. Years ago I worked with several people on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) crew. While they were running through ramp up to rehearse an EVA component repair they'd tell us of how the budget for HST was eliminated for a couple years before it was launched. A couple of them would spend their lunch breaks and afternoons in the HST facility applying decals and doing minor tasks. Just something to keep making some progress. Eventually the budget tap got turned back on and it was launched. And the few engineers who had cared for it in the interim were the only ones who still had knowledge of how it all fit together. So they ended up becoming the project managers for the program. But that was a plan that got scrapped, then resurrected because a few kept it on life support. My guess is this high tech beer cooler is a similar project.

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Originally posted by r0gue:
Might not be the coldest place in the universe anymore, but Pittsburgh in February still has the title for the greyest place. We're #1, We're #1!

You damn sure have that right. What like 56 sunny days a year?

RMD

Coldest spot? Nonsense! They obviously haven't met my ex.