NASA and a University of Central Florida (UCF) physics professor will fly a balloon on Sunday - a high-altitude balloon that will be used to test a payload that could one day be used to detect alien life.
Robert Peale, from UCF's Department of Physics, and his team are ready to send the toaster-sized sensor into the stratosphere, which is located about 20 miles above the Earth. The sensor - named The Planetary Atmospheres Minor Species Sensor (PAMSS) - is capable of sniffing out trace gasses at parts per trillion levels, which is much lower than current technologies can do, according to a press release from UCF.
PAMSS technology can be used here on Earth to detect climate changing gases. PAMSS could be used in the health care industry to diagnose disease by way of a breathalyzer test. The technology can even be used to detect explosives, further securing public safety, according to the press release.
Other worldly applications are what interests NASA. PAMSS can detect very low levels of methane, which would mean life could be sustained in that atmosphere. NASA could use the technology to study Venus' greenhouse effects or the atmosphere on Saturn's moon, Titan.
"The purpose of NASA supporting this is to try to increase the technical readiness level for future space exploration," said Peale, according to the press release.
PAMSS uses an infrared quantum cascade laser as tiny as a grain of salt on a mount the size of the nail on your pinky finger. According to the press release, the sensor has been adapted for use in an intracavity laser absorption spectrometer. The entire apparatus weighs about 24 pounds.
Weather permitting, Peale and his team will launch the payload on board a high-altitude balloon operated by a NASA contractor in Tucson, Ariz. The sensor will remain in the stratosphere for six to eight hours, gathering data, before being cut free and returning to the ground on a parachute.
The temperature in the stratosphere can drop to minus 75 degrees Fahrenheit, so Sunday will be the first test to check how the sensor holds up against temperature and pressure changes.
"It's a very harsh environment," Peale said. "We want to see if the instrument can survive."
According to the press release, "Funding for the development of PAMSS came from the Center for Microgravity Research and Education -- a joint venture of UCF and Space Florida -- and the Florida Space Institute, which is managed by UCF and located in Central Florida Research Park, adjacent to the university."
