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Experiment/Payload OverviewBrief Summary
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer - 02 (AMS-02) seeks to understand fundamental issues on the origin and structure of the universe.
Principal InvestigatorInformation Pending
Payload DeveloperJohnson Space Center, Houston, TX
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
United States Department of Energy, Washington, DC
Physikalisches Institut B, Aachen, Germany
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark
National Institute for Nuclear Physics and High Energy Physics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Laboratoire d'Annecy-le-Vieux de Physique des Particules, Universite de Savoie, Annecy-le-Vieux, France
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Beijing Institute of Spacecraft Environment Engineering, Beijing, China
Institue of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Institue of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Institue of Microtechnology, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
Institue of Space Science and University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
University Politechnica, Bucharest, Romania
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
National Central University, Jhongli City, Taiwan
University of Maryland, College Park, MD
East-West Center for Space Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea
National Aerospace Laboratory, Emmeloord, The Netherlands
Istituto di Ricerca sulle Onde Elettromagnetiche, Florence, Italy
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bologna, Bologna, Italia
Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Firenze, Italy
Max-Planck Institut fur extraterrestrische Physik, Garching, Germany
Department de Physique Nucleaire et Corpusculaire, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva, Switzerland
Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie, Grenoble, France
Universite J. Fourier, Grenoble, France
Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou,China
Jacobs, Houston, TX
National Space Organization, Hsin-Chu City,Taiwan
National Applied Research Laboratories, Taipei, Taiwan
Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China
Universitaet Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany
Metsahovi Radio Observatory, Helsinki University of Technology, Kylmala, Finland
Laboratorio de Instrumentacao e Fisica Experimental de Part?culas, Lisboa, Portugal
Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisboa, Portugal
Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, Lung-Tan, Tao Yuan, Taiwan
Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas, Medioambientales y Tecnologicas, Madrid, Spain
Universidad Nacional Aut?noma de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
Universita di Milano-Bicocca and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano, Milano, Italy
Laboratoire de Physique Th?orique et Astroparticules, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Universit? Montpellier II, Montpellier, France
Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics, Moscow, Russia
Kurchatov Institute, Russian Research Center, Moscow, Russia
Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
Southeast University, Nanjing, China
Yale University, Physics Department, New Haven, CT
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Perugia and Universita Degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia, Italy
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa and Universita di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Roma, Italy
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Roma 1 and Universita di Roma La Sapienza, Roma, Italy
Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and the Environment, Rome, Italy
Ewha Womens University, Seoul, South Korea
Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Universita di Siena, Siena, Tuscany, Italy
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei, Taiwan
AstroParticle and Cosmic Radiation Detector Research and Development Laboratory, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL
Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Tenerife, Spain
Center for Advanced Research in Space Optics, Trieste, Italy
Space Research Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
Labor fur Hochenergiephysik, Zurich, Switzerland
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Expeditions Assigned|25|26|
Previous ISS MissionsThe precursor to AMS-02, AMS, was flown on STS-91 in 1998. During this precursor flight, the basic technology required to perform the measurements was proven.
Experiment/Payload Description
Research Summary
- The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer - 02 (AMS-02) is a high profile space-based particle physics experiment.
- Orbiting the Earth at an altitude of 200 nautical miles attached to the International Space Station (ISS), AMS-02 will pioneer a new frontier in particle physics research.
- As the first magnetic spectrometer in space, AMS-02 will collect information from cosmic sources emanating from stars and galaxies millions of light years beyond the Milky Way.
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) is a state-of-the-art particle physics detector constructed, tested and operated by an international team composed of 60 institutes from 16 countries and organized under United States Department of Energy (DOE) sponsorship. The AMS-02 will use the unique environment of space to advance knowledge of the universe and lead to the understanding of the universe's origin by searching for antimatter, dark matter and measuring cosmic rays.
Experimental evidence indicates that our Galaxy is made of matter; however, there are more than 100 hundred million galaxies in the universe and the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe requires equal amounts of matter and antimatter. Theories that explain this apparent asymmetry violate other measurements. Whether or not there is significant antimatter is one of the fundamental questions of the origin and nature of the universe. Any observations of an antihelium nucleus would provide evidence for the existence of antimatter. In 1999, AMS-01 established a new upper limit of 10-6 for the antihelium/helium flux ratio in the universe. AMS-02 will search with a sensitivity of 10-9, an improvement of three orders of magnitude, sufficient to reach the edge of the expanding universe and resolve the issue definitively.
The visible matter in the universe (stars) adds up to less than 5 percent of the total mass that is known to exist from many other observations. The other 95 percent is dark, either dark matter (which is estimated at 20 percent of the universe by weight or dark energy, which makes up the balance). The exact nature of both still is unknown. One of the leading candidates for dark matter is the neutralino. If neutralinos exist, they should be colliding with each other and giving off an excess of charged particles that can be detected by AMS-02. Any peaks in the background positron, anti-proton, or gamma flux could signal the presence of neutralinos or other dark matter candidates.
Six types of quark (u, d, s, c, b and t) have been found experimentally, however all matter on Earth is made up of only two types of quarks (u and d). It is a fundamental question whether there is matter made up of three quarks (u, d and s). This matter is known as Strangelets. Strangelets can have extremely large mass and very small charge-to-mass ratios. It would be a totally new form of matter. AMS will provide a definitive answer on the existence of this extraordinary matter. The above three examples indicates that AMS will probe the foundations of modern physics.
Cosmic radiation is a significant obstacle to a manned space flight to Mars. Accurate measurements of the cosmic ray environment are needed to plan appropriate countermeasures. Most cosmic ray studies are done by balloon-borne satellites with flight times that are measured in days; these studies have shown significant variations. AMS-02 will be operative on the ISS for a nominal mission of 3 years, gathering an immense amount of accurate data and allowing measurements of the long term variation of the cosmic ray flux over a wide energy range, for nuclei from protons to iron. After the nominal mission, AMS-02 can continue to provide cosmic ray measurements. In addition to the understanding the radiation protection required for manned interplanetary flight, this data will allow the interstellar propagation and origins of cosmic rays to be pinned down.
Applications
Space Applications
AMS-02 will provide the first operational experience with a large superconducting cryogenic magnet in space and greatly extend the knowledge base regarding superfluid cryogenic systems operation in space. These are enabling technologies for the potential use of magnetic shielding as a method of radiation protection during extended manned space flight, as well as for space power and propulsion systems.
Earth ApplicationsThis unique scientific mission of exploration seeks to understand fundamental issues shared by physics, astrophysics and cosmology on the origin and structure of the universe. Although the AMS-02 is specifically looking for antimatter and dark matter, as the first magnetic spectrometer in space, AMS-02 has and will collect information from cosmic sources emanating from stars and galaxies millions of light years beyond the Milky Way.
Operations
Operational Requirements
AMS-02 will collect data 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. As long as the experiment has power provided by the ISS, the detectors will be on and measuring data at a rate of 7 Gigabits per seconds. This is equivalent to filling a 1 Gigabyte USB memory stick every second! Using sophisticated filtration and compression techniques, the advanced 600 computer processors located on AMS-02 are able to reduce the amount of data down by a factor of 3000. This data is sent from the ISS to the ground where researchers around the globe will compile and analyze data.
Operational ProtocolsThe AMS-02 will be launched on the Space Shuttle to the ISS on mission ULF6. Because the payload utilizes a superfluid helium cryogenic magnet, a last minute top-off of the superfluid helium is required in the Shuttle payload bay. AMS-02 will be mounted to the ISS S3 Upper Inboard Payload Attach Site during and extravehicular activity (EVA).
Results/More Information
Information Pending
Related Web Sites
Publications
Results Publications
Related Publications
Images
AMS-02 integration activities in Geneva, Switzerland. Image courtesy of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.+ View Larger Image
Computer generated image of the completed International Space Station with external workstations. Image courtesy of NASA. + View Larger Image
Information Provided and Updated by the ISS Program Scientist's Office