Peter Brereton

In support of the National Quantum Initiative and advancing exploration, science, and technology in aeronautics and space, NASA has made increasing investments in quantum sensors over the past 20 years. As an illustration, two use cases for quantum sensors to get at “NASA-scale” measurement problems will be presented: 

• Cold atom gravity gradiometry for Earth Science: the interference of laser cooled atoms can be harnessed to achieve order of magnitude improvements over classical gravity recovery measurements.  
• Space optical atomic clocks: The frequency stability and time hold over achievable in optical atomic clocks can enable precision navigation and timing networks on the moon, enable autonomous precision landing on planetary bodies, and deep space navigation