Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer
| AMS-02 patch | |
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| Alpha magnetic spectrometer | |
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| Organization | AMS Collaboration |
|---|---|
| Mission Type | Cosmic ray |
| Host Satellite | International Space Station |
| Launch | 16 May 2011 08:56:28 EDT (13:56:28 UTC) |
| Launch vehicle | Space Shuttle Endeavour |
| Launch site | Kennedy Space Center LC 39A |
| Mission duration | 10 years or more |
| Mission elapsed time | 5 years, 8 months and 14 days |
| Mass | 6,717 kg (14,808 lb) |
| Max length | |
| Power consumption | 2000–2500 W |
| Webpage | AMS-02 homepage |
| Orbital elements (ISS) | |
| Inclination | 51.6 degrees |
| Orbit | LEO |
| Min altitude | 341 km (184 nmi) |
| Max altitude | 353 km (191 nmi) |
| Period | ~91 minutes |
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, also designated AMS-02, is a particle physics experiment module that is mounted on the International Space Station (ISS). It is designed to measure antimatter in cosmic rays and search for evidence of dark matter. This information is needed to understand the formation of the Universe. The principal investigator is Nobel laureate particle physicist Samuel Ting. The launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour flight STS-134 carrying AMS-02 took place on 16 May 2011, and the spectrometer was installed on 19 May 2011. By April 15, 2015, AMS-02 had recorded over 60 billion cosmic ray events and 90 billion after five years of operation since its installation in May 2011.
In March 2013, at a seminar at CERN, Professor Samuel Ting reported that AMS had observed over 400,000 positrons, with the positron to electron fraction increasing from 10 GeV to 250 GeV. (Later results have shown a decrease in positron fraction at energies over about 275 GeV). There was "no significant variation over time, or any preferred incoming direction. These results are consistent with the positrons originating from the annihilation of dark matter particles in space, but not yet sufficiently conclusive to rule out other explanations." The results have been published in Physical Review Letters. Additional data are still being collected.
The alpha magnetic spectrometer was proposed in 1995 by MIT particle physicist Samuel Ting, not long after the cancellation of the Superconducting Super Collider. The proposal was accepted and Ting became the principal investigator.
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