NASA scientists are working on a new quantum sensor that can detect very tiny changes in Earth’s gravity from low Earth orbit. These small changes are caused by things like moving underground water, earthquakes, and shifting rocks. By studying these changes, scientists hope to learn more about what’s hidden beneath the Earth’s surface.
This new technology could help locate underground water sources (called aquifers), mineral deposits, and other hidden features. This information is useful for many things, such as navigation, managing natural resources, and national security.
“We could determine the mass of the Himalayas using atoms,” said Jason Hyon, chief technologist for Earth Science at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and director of JPL’s Quantum Space Innovation Centre, in a statement on April 15.
How the sensor works
The new instrument is called the Quantum Gravity Gradiometer Pathfinder (QGGPf). It is being developed by JPL, private companies, and universities. This sensor uses a special technique called atom interferometry.
Here’s how it works: scientists cool clouds of atoms to almost absolute zero and drop them in freefall. As they fall, lasers split the atoms and then bring them back together. The way the atoms combine tells scientists how much they were affected by gravity. This lets them measure very tiny changes in gravity with great accuracy.
“With atoms, I can guarantee that every measurement will be the same. We are less sensitive to environmental effects,” said Sheng-wey Chiow, an experimental physicist at JPL.
One big advantage of the QGGPf sensor is its small size. It is about the size of a washing machine and weighs 275 pounds (125 kilograms). Traditional gravity sensors used in space are much bigger and heavier. A smaller and lighter tool is easier and cheaper to send into space.
NASA is planning to test this new sensor in space before the end of this decade. They want to see how well it works in orbit and whether it can be used for future missions.
“No one has tried to fly one of these instruments yet,” said Ben Stray, a postdoctoral researcher at JPL. “We need to fly it so that we can figure out how well it will operate, and that will allow us to not only advance the quantum gravity gradiometer but also quantum technology in general.”
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