NASA establishes another quantum research institute for space sensing
New technologies are key to helping NASA advance its long-term exploration goals for the benefit of all. To support its efforts, the agency announced Thursday that it will create two new institutes to develop technologies in key areas of engineering and climate research.
The two new Space Technology Institutes (STRIs) will use teams led by U.S. universities to create multidisciplinary research and technology development programs that are critical to NASA's future. By bringing together science, engineering and other disciplines from universities, industry and nonprofit organizations, these institutes aim to impact future aerospace capabilities through investments in early-stage technologies.
One research institute will focus on quantum sensing technologies that support climate research. Another will work to improve understanding and help enable rapid certification of metal parts made using advanced manufacturing technologies.
"We are excited to leverage the expertise of these multi-university teams to create technologies for some of our most pressing needs," said Jim Reuter, deputy director of the agency's Space Technology Mission Council at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Their work will enable the next generation of science to study our home planet and expand the use of 3D printed metal parts in spaceflight through state-of-the-art modeling."
Each institute will receive up to $15 million in funding over five years.
The University of Texas at Austin will lead the Quantum Pathways Institute, which is focused on advancing quantum sensing technology for the next generation of Earth science applications. This technology will provide new insights into the Earth and the effects of climate change.
Quantum sensors use the principles of quantum physics to collect more accurate data and enable unprecedented scientific measurements. These sensors are particularly useful for satellites in Earth orbit to collect data on mass changes - a measurement that can tell scientists how ice, ocean and land water are moving and changing. While the fundamental physics and technology of quantum sensors have been proven in concept, efforts are needed to develop quantum sensors that can meet the accuracy required for the next generation of scientific needs in spaceflight missions.
"Quantum sensing methods show great promise for computing, communications and now remote sensing applications in the Earth sciences," said Dr. Srinivas Bettadpur, the institute's principal investigator and a professor of aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics at the University of Texas. "Our goal is to advance this technology and get it ready for space as soon as possible."
The institute will work to further advance the physics behind quantum sensors, design how to build them for space missions, and understand how mission design and systems engineering needs to accommodate this new technology.
The institute's partners include the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of California at Santa Barbara, the California Institute of Technology and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Perito Moreno Glacier, this advance in quantum sensing technology to improve mass change measurements in orbit, which will help scientists understand the movement of glaciers ice and water on Earth's surface
JILA (by NIST To fund this work, NASA has awarded $15 million over five years to a consortium of universities. and the University of Colorado at Boulder to establish a world-leading physics institute) is part of a multi-university research group building quantum-based tools for outer space. These tools will help observe atomic interactions in the external environment. The cohort includes technologies from researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, JILA, the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU), the University of California at Santa Barbara (USCB), the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) and the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
"The award establishes the Quantum Pathways Institute, supported by NASA STRI (Space Technology Institute) and led by Professor Srinivas Bettadpur of the University of Texas at Austin, with Texas, CU and UCSB as collaborating institutions," said JILA researcher involved in the project The Quantum Pathways Institute is the first of its kind as it works to translate the capabilities of quantum physics into a usable device called "Quantum 2.0," explains Dana Anderson, a JILA researcher and CU Boulder professor involved in the project. In addition to these developments, the institute will provide educational training in quantum theory and quantum experiments for graduate students and postdocs.
From left to right, JILA lab researchers Murray Holland, Catie Ledesma, Kendall Mehling, Liang-Ying and Dana Anderson. (Photo credit: Dana Anderson)
The project "will focus on the concept of quantum sensing, which involves observing how atoms respond to small changes in their environment and using it to infer temporal changes in the Earth's gravity field," explains Nat Levy, a University of Texas communicator, in a recent article. The announcement. "This will allow scientists to improve the accuracy of measuring several important climate processes, such as sea level rise, ice melt rates, changes in terrestrial water resources, and changes in ocean heat storage."
For JILA, JILA researchers Murray Holland and Dana Anderson are collaborating with University of Colorado researchers Penny Axelrad, Marco Nicotra and NIST researcher Michelle Stephens. "JILA's contributions reflect its long history in precision measurement, AMO and quantum physics," Holland explained. "Working with EECE and the aerospace sector here, recent efforts have combined JILA's quantum science expertise with modern machine learning and control methods to address the challenges facing the design of complex quantum hardware. Work here and elsewhere has demonstrated the potential of these methods to optimize the design and control of quantum sensors beyond what anyone has accomplished to date."
To combine machine learning with quantum science, the researchers will use multi-level experiments. One of the experiments includes an interferometer that measures the binding of gravitational waves to a vibrating optical lattice. The lattice can measure small changes in the behavior of atoms that translate into changes in gravitational waves. "Our effort builds on the well-known JILA optical lattice clock technique using ultracold atoms, but applied here to extreme inertial sensing capabilities rather than timing," elaborates Holland. This makes the entire device useful as a quantum sensor. and Anderson adds, "The role of the CU is to develop the sensor instrumentation as well as the associated hardware; the experimental hardware system and the associated test bench will be housed within JILA."
Not only will these gravitational changes help detect possible earthquakes or other natural disasters, they can also be used for climate monitoring. "As the climate changes - ice caps melt, sea levels and temperatures change - this changes the gravitational pull around the Earth and in outer space," Levy said in the announcement from the University of Texas . "Atoms orbiting the Earth respond to these gravitational changes. By measuring these responses, researchers can better understand changes in climate processes."
The award of this grant will only add to the reputation of JILA and CU Boulder as the world's leading quantum physics research institutions. Other organizations in these systems, such as the CUbit Quantum Initiative, also help enrich the ecosystem and provide exclusive opportunities to push the frontiers of quantum physics.
But the challenge facing the team is twofold. Some of these sensing technologies exist today, but much of what they are building is new. Add to that the challenge of getting these instruments into orbit.
"You can't do manual maintenance in space - once you send something out, it's out of reach; you can't see it," said Srinivas Bettadpur of UT Austin, head of the NASA Institute. "You have to put a lot of work into making sure the instruments can fly and the technology can run for years, at least, to make these discoveries."
