The MOSAICS program’s mission is to improve diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the science and engineering communities as well as throughout NASA’s workforce, according to the agency.
The collaboration supports undergraduate research by training and mentoring students in the development of novel gravity gradiometers, according to NASA. Gravity gradiometers are devices that are able to measure small changes in gravitational fields, including that of the Earth. They are used for Earth science and fundamental physics investigations, among other things.
“The instruments that are being developed at NASA represent completely new methods to measure tiny changes in gravitational fields using quantum sensors. This work will allow Cal Poly Humboldt students to be involved in areas of research that are truly groundbreaking,” says Hoyle.
The funds will allow four students to gain experience in a cutting-edge research facility. They will receive a stipend, living expenses, and the travel funds needed to present work at conferences.
Students will train in Hoyle’s Gravity Lab during the academic year before spending 10 weeks in Leopardi’s QuEST lab at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland as part of a summer internship. Their work will focus on developing space-based gravity gradiometer systems using cold atom interferometry and atomic clocks to improve the mapping of Earth’s water and ice movement; perform fundamental physics measurements; and improve the navigation systems of future spacecraft, Hoyle explains. Working with quantum systems will also train students in research methods that will be applicable in various venues, such as supporting the National Quantum Initiative.
The collaboration presents a full-circle moment for Hoyle. While this effort is tied to Leopardi's work at her Goddard lab, it is also a natural extension of the research being done in Cal Poly Humboldt’s Gravity Lab, where Leopardi was an undergraduate researcher. Leopardi subsequently earned a Ph.D. in atomic physics from the University of Colorado, Boulder and was a researcher at the Space Dynamics Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico before beginning her work at NASA.
Students will begin by developing and testing precision optical systems here at Cal Poly Humboldt, Hoyle says. “These devices will provide support for Leopardi's work that aims to develop systems that can measure minute variations in the Earth's gravitational field from space, and in reality, tiny variations in the gravitational field produced by any object.”
“These precision sensors will be used to develop new space navigation systems and make precision measurements of gravity gradients that can be used to test theories that predict new physics and exotic particles of nature,” he adds. “By observing the varying nature of Earth's gravity with higher precision, these sensors can also be used to measure ice, water, and land movements on the surface of and within the Earth.”