Space has a reputation for being cold frigid even, but the tremendous chill of deep space is nothing compared to what NASA is preparing to create very near to Earth. Researchers are planning to generate a super-cold spot on the International Space Station (ISS) to study the intricacies of quantum mechanics. How cold? Its going to be the coldest spot in the known universe.

In the vast expanses of nothingness between galaxies, the diffuse gaseous matter regularly reaches roughly 3 Kelvin close to absolute zero, where all motion on the subatomic level is believed to stop. The experiment being carried out in the ISS Cold Atom Lab is going to reach temperatures as low as 100 pico-Kelvin above absolute zero (pico denotes one-trillionth).

The team will be working with Bose-Einstein Condensates, a type of dilute gas that shows fascinating macro-quantum effects at temperatures near absolute zero. The space station offers a uniquely well-suited environment for this testing. When gas expands, it cools, and this is the basis of the cooling that will take place on the ISS. Magnetic traps will be used to expand gas until it gets down to the desired temperature. These traps can be very low-power because the gas doesnt need to be supported against the pull of gravity, allowing it to reach incredibly low temperatures.

Bose-Einstein Condensates offer a window into the strange world of quantum mechanics. Two Bose-Einstein Condensates that are placed together dont mix, instead they interfere like waves. The Cold Atom Lab on the ISS will offer scientists a chance to study these remarkable effects at the lowest temperature yet. This is the absolute forefront of science no ones exactly sure what well find.

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International Space Station will soon contain the coldest spot in the known universe