Paul Cooper brings space science down to Earth - literally. In the Astrophysical Ice and Matrix-Isolation Spectroscopy (AIMIS) Laboratory on the Fairfax Campus, Cooper and his students are studying how chemistry and physics processes occur in space, particularly on icy planetary bodies in the outer solar system.

Their research focuses on how conditions, such as extreme cold and radiation, on these bodies affect chemical processes. By learning why and how certain molecules develop, they hope to be able to predict what molecules may form before being detected by astronomers.Their findings could shed light on whether living organisms could exist on these outer planetary bodies such as the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. “Many of these bodies are exposed to radiation,” Cooper explains, “which can alter the chemical composition of the ice on the surfaces. Such radiation-induced processes are thought to be responsible for generating the weak atmospheres that surround the satellites and possibly producing ice volcanoes on Enceladus (a moon of Saturn).”

In the AIMIS Lab, students use sophisticated vacuum, cryogenic, and spectroscopy instruments to study ices for research that is rarely done in labs in this country or elsewhere in the world. Cooper works directly with his students, providing hands-on experience using these instruments. “It takes about a semester for a student to be comfortable running an experiment by themselves,” says Cooper. “So working in the [AIMIS] lab provides valuable training in these techniques.”

Cooper received his doctorate in chemistry from The University of Western Australia, where he studied infrared matrix-isolation spectroscopy, looking specifically at how water molecules bond with other small molecules. He then came to the United States for a postdoctoral fellowship at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, where he began investigating how conditions on icy satellites in the outer solar system affect the production and stability of oxidants suchas oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. Cooper wanted to move to academia and found his Mason faculty position in physical chemistry, where he is now assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in the College of Science.

“Since starting at Mason, I’ve worked with a number of undergraduates on various astrochemistry projects in the lab,” says Cooper. In addition to astrophysical ice research, students use matrix-isolation spectroscopy, a technique that produces certain chemical complexes and traps them in gases in extremely low-temperature solid form for observation and analysis.

Cooper and his students have also received funding to work with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech on an astrobiology project. In particular, an undergraduate student is looking at how the irradiation of methane and water ice produces methanol.

Chemistry students aren’t likely to consider careers in space research, because chemistry is often thought of as something that happens only on Earth. “Well, chemistry happens everywhere,” notes Cooper, “even in galaxies many millions of light years away.Working on projects that are relevant to NASA and space exploration is really a cool thing. And the space research community needs good chemists to do good lab work in support of observations returned by spacecraft missions and telescopic observations.”

Cooper sees undergraduate research as beneficial for students, professors, the college, and the university as a whole. Students get to participate in research beyond their normal coursework along with invaluable experience with world-class professors. Professors gain research partners working alongside them in the lab, getting results that lead to publications and grants.The program becomes an excellent recruiting ground for graduate students because of its visibility in the astroscience fields.

Through his research and expertise, Cooper has participated on a number of NASA review panels. Recently, he gave NASA his scientific evaluation of several proposed $400million spacecraft missions, one of which will fly later this decade. His professional contributions to this process help raise the awareness and visibility of Mason science on an international level.