SSC Swedish Space : 23 Jan 2017 MAIUS-1 rocket launched - testing Einstein principle

MAIUS-1 rocket was launched early in the morning from Esrange Space Center, on 23 January 2017 at 3.30 CET.

German scientists have, for the first time, succeeded in producing a Bose-Einstein condensate in space and using it for interferometry experiments.

MAIUS-1 is a technology demonstration microgravity mission and part of the Quantus3 project. The test of the Einstein's equivalence principle with degenerate quantum matter is one the strategies to explore the frontier between quantum mechanics and gravity. A precise test for this equivalence is the comparisons of the free fall of ultracold clouds of different atomic species and its readout using atom interferometry. In order to increase the precision of such an interferometer the space-time-area enclosed in it has to be increased. This can be achieved by performing the experiments in a microgravity environment that allows longer interrogation times.

Read more about MAIUS-1

DLR about MAIUS-1 launch