These new theories predict the behavior of matter at finer energy scales and lower temperatures than previously considered. One of the cornerstones of low-temperature research is Renormalization Group Theory. Devised by Kenneth Wilson, this theory offers a mathematical technique for predicting behavior of all materials at their critical points. Theories like Wilson's, which garnered him a Nobel prize in 1982, and the experiments to test them could answer some of the most fundamental questions about the universe. It naturally has two properties that make it a particularly appealing test material.
Purity makes the interpretation of the helium's behavior much easier.
In addition, helium is impervious to other interfering conditions such as the Earth's magnetic field. One influence that has come to interfere in the investigation of superfluid helium is gravity. In Earth's gravity, the pressure in the sample will not be uniform. To push the research to new levels, the experiments must be performed in microgravity, where the sample can be uniform, thus allowing the most accurate measurements ever taken of helium's super transition. The Lambda Point Experiment was the first, and so far the only, low-temperature microgravity physics experiment to be performed in orbit.