Cold Atom Laboratory

NASA’s Cold Atom Laboratory is a remotely operated quantum-gas experiment aboard the International Space Station. Built and operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, it uses lasers, magnetic traps and other cooling techniques to prepare ultracold rubidium and potassium samples. Microgravity lets matter waves expand and interact for longer than in ground experiments. The laboratory supports studies of quantum gases and demonstrations of atom interferometry for future gravity sensing, navigation and fundamental-physics measurements.