Cornell team to create tool that detects molecules in cosmos

To find the detailed building blocks of life in the cosmos, a new, third-generation instrument will be placed on NASA's SOFIA – the airliner-based Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. Professor Gordon Stacey will lead a Cornell University team of researchers and students to develop the cryogenic scanning Fabry-Perot interferometers, a key tool for detecting distant molecules.