I've recently been selected to train as a scientist-astronaut candidate for commercial suborbital and developing orbital flights with a newly-formed, nonprofit endeavor that counts NASA/ESA astronauts, astronaut trainers and instructors among its astronaut corps and its board of advisors. I'm honored to be selected for the program, and tremendously excited about the opportunity. This is just the start of a long and challenging journey!

The nascent field of commercial spaceflight—and the unique conditions afforded by space and microgravity environments—offer exciting new opportunities to conduct novel experiments in quantum entanglement, fundamental tests of spacetime, and large-scale quantum coherence. In pursuit of these goals, we have the opportunity to inspire our next generation of scientists, researchers and engineers. 

• Astronaut Scientists for Hire Open New Research Frontier in Space
• About the Astronauts: Christopher Altman  
• Quantum Astronaut: Facebook Page
• Virgin Galactic to fly scientists to space
• Spaceport America
• Bigelow Aerospace Partners with NASA, plans extension to International Space Station, Lunar Outposts

Quantum Experiments in Space and Microgravity

• NASA Jet Propulsion Lab: Innovative quantum technologies for microgravity fundamental physics and biological research
• Anton Zeilinger: Quantum Entanglement in Space

Extending coherence times in superconducting qubits Schoelkopf Lab | via Leo DiCarlo — In arXiv 1105.4652, Schoelkopf et al  report novel implementation of a superconducting transmon qubit strongly coupled to a 5-cm, three-dimensional superconducting cavity, attaining reproducible extension in coherence times of both qubit (T₁ and T₂ > 10 μs) and cavity (T_cav ∼ 50 μs) by more than an order of magnitude compared to the current state-of-the-art superconducting qubits. "This enables the study of the stability and quality of Josephson junctions at precisions exceeding one part per million. Surprisingly, we see no evidence for 1/ f critical current noise. At elevated temperatures, we observe dissipation due to a small density (< 1 − 10 ppm) of thermally excited quasiparticles. These results suggest that the overall quality of Josephson junctions will allow for error rates of 10⁻⁴, approaching the error correction threshold to meet the DiVincenzo criteria for universal quantum computation. 





Time domain measurement of qubit coherence (a) Relaxation from |1⟩ of qubit J1. T1 is 60 μs for this measurement. (b) Ramsey fringes measured on resonance with (blue squares) and without (red squares) echo sequence. The pulse width for the π and π/2 pulses used in the experiments is 20 ns. An additional phase is added to the rotation axis of the second π/2 pulse for each delay to give the oscillatory feature to the Ramsey fringes.

The Quantum Computer is Growing Up: Robust error correction in a quantum processor Rainer Blatt | Innsbruck | Science | KurzweilAI 

A more efficient algorithm for error correction in quantum computers has been demonstrated experimentally by physicists at the Institute for Experimental Physics of the University of Innsbruck and the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IQOQI).

The physicists demonstrated the mechanism by storing three calcium ions in an ion trap. All three particles were used as qubits: one ion represented the system qubit while the other two ions represented auxiliary qubits. The system qubit was then entangled with the auxiliary qubits to transfer the quantum information to all three particles.

The physicists applied a quantum algorithm to determine whether an error occurred and, if there was an error, correct it. After making the correction, the auxiliary qubits were reset using a laser beam to enable repetitive error correction.

“For a quantum computer to become reality, we need a quantum processor with many quantum bits. Moreover, we need quantum operations that work nearly error-free; the third crucial element is an efficient error correction.”- Philipp Schindler

A team of physicists at the University of Innsbruck, led by Philipp Schindler and Rainer Blatt, has demonstrated a crucial element for quantum computers: repetitive error correction. This allows scientists to correct errors occurring in a quantum computer efficiently. The researchers recently published these findings in Science.

Quantum Entanglement Allows "Teleportation in Time" MIT Technology Review "Conventional entanglement links particles across space. Now physicists say a similar effect links particles through time. Entanglement is so deeply enmeshed in the universe that a measurement in the past has an automatic, time-symmetric, influence on the future—and vice versa." –MIT Technology Review

Science—Top Breakthrough of the Year Science, UCSB Science Magazine has compiled the top breakthroughs of the year, awarding the most significant scientific advance of 2010 to Andrew Cleland and John Martinis (UCSB). "This year’s Breakthrough of the Year represents the first time that scientists have demonstrated quantum effects in the motion of a human-made object," said Adrian Cho, a news writer for Science. "On a conceptual level it extends quantum mechanics into a whole new realm. On a practical level, it opens up a variety of possibilities ranging from new experiments that meld quantum control over light, electrical currents and motion to—perhaps someday—tests of the bounds of quantum mechanics and our sense of reality. This last grand goal might be achieved by trying to put a macroscopic object in a state in which it’s literally in two slightly different places at the same time."

TEDxCaltech | Feynman's Vision: The Next 50 Years Caltech In recognition of the 50 year anniversaries of Richard Feynman's visionary talk "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom" and the inauguration of his revolutionary "Feynman Lectures on Physics," the Institute will host TEDxCaltech on January 14, 2011. TEDxCaltech will be a dynamic celebration of Feynman's spirit, curiosity, and scientific vision, and will take ideas worth sharing from Caltech out into the world by celebrating Nobel Laureate, visionary, and “curious character” Richard Feynman, with the theme “Feynman’s Vision: The Next 50 Years.” Speakers include Scott Aaronson, Immanuel Bloch, Sean Carroll, John Preskill, Lenny Susskind, David Awschalom, Kip Thorne, Charlie Marcus, Don Eigler, Michael Roukes, Craig Venter, and many more.