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NASA astronaut Jessica Meir inspects optical fibers while installing hardware updates to the agency\u2019s Cold Atom Lab, or CAL, aboard the International Space Station on May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n
About the size of a minifridge and operated from Earth, CAL chills atoms to temperatures below minus 459 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 273.15 degrees Celsius), so close to absolute zero that they form a large quantum object called a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) \u2014 a fifth state of matter distinct from solids, liquids, gases, and plasma. In a BEC, scientists can observe the quantum properties of atoms at a scale visible to the naked eye. For instance, atoms and particles sometimes behave like solid objects and sometimes behave like waves, a quantum property called \u201cwave-particle duality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory designed, built, and operates Cold Atom Lab, which is sponsored by the Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS) division of NASA\u2019s Science Mission Directorate at the agency\u2019s headquarters in Washington. The BPS\u202fdivision pioneers\u202fscientific discovery and enables exploration by\u202fusing space environments to conduct investigations\u202fthat are not possible on Earth.\u202fStudying biological and physical phenomena under extreme conditions allows researchers to\u202fadvance\u202fthe\u202ffundamental scientific knowledge\u202frequired to go farther and stay longer in space, while also benefiting life on Earth.\u202f<\/p>\n
To learn more about Cold Atom Lab, visit:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n