As we create this little microcosm of that exoplanet's atmosphere in our lab, we send in our own characterized light with lasers and study the photons that come out. "That is where Ryan's experiment comes in.
SPACESHIP INSIDE HOW TO
"Scientists need a map for how to interpret what the light is telling us when it gets here," Rieker said. Credit: University of Colorado at Boulder As the light interacts with gasses in the atmosphere, those gasses absorb the photons as they move through.Ī view of the instrument, built by Ryan Cole (PhDMechEngr'21), as the experiment replicates the conditions on exoplanets, causing the experiment to glow with heat. Scientists use a telescope to look at the light passing through it. Rieker and Cole's work can contribute to exoplanet transit spectroscopy-a research method to observe the composition of an exoplanet's atmosphere. If we see the right combination of gasses, it could be an indicator that something is alive there." "We can look at the chemical signatures of exoplanets as well.
"If we looked at Earth's atmosphere, we would know that life is here because we see methane, carbon dioxide, all these different markers that say something is living here," Rieker said. By reaching the same high-temperature and high-pressure conditions found on many exoplanets, the instrument can map the gasses in their atmospheres, which could one day help humanity find life on other planets. instrument at Professor Greg Rieker's lab on the University of Colorado Boulder campus. In addition, the head of the pen is less sharp than a normal pen's to avoid puncturing astronauts' spacesuits or other valuable equipment.Ī space pen developed by the company was sent into space aboard the Shenzhen X spacecraft in 2013, making China the second country in the world, after the United States, able to independently produce a pen usable in space.Ryan Cole (Ph.D.MechEngr'21) has developed an experiment that recreates the actual climate of planets beyond our solar system inside a 2,000 lb. The ink within the pen is also composed of liquid with high viscosity, making writing stick to surfaces tightly instead of flying off as hazardous droplets. The pen has a core made using special alloys and a built-in self-pressurizing device to enable writing in low gravity. The structure of a common pen can neither withstand the impact and vibration experienced by the spacecraft cabin during rocket launch nor write properly in a zero-gravity environment, Guo said. "The space pen's core, ink and structure are all different from a common pen," said company representative Guo Yi. The pen was produced by Shaoguan Shengyi Stationery Co Ltd in Guangdong province, which is a pioneer in making pens used in outer space. In video footage sent back from the spaceship, astronaut Cai Xuzhe was seen letting go of the pen to watch it twirl and float in the cabin. Ĭhina's Shenzhou XIV spaceship launched into space on Sunday, with the three astronauts aboard tasked with completing construction on the country's first space station.Īs people across the country watched the launch closely, an ink pen drifting in the crew cabin caught the attention of many. Photo shows a pen floating inside the Shenzhou XIV mission crew cabin on June 5, 2022.