KSC-2010-4485

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers begin to offload an Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, or AMS, section from an Air Force C-5M aircraft. A tractor-trailer will transport the AMS from the Shuttle Landing Facility runway to the Space Station Processing Facility, where it will be processed for launch. AMS, a state-of-the-art particle physics detector, is designed to operate as an external module on the International Space Station. It will use the unique environment of space to study the universe and its origin by searching for dark matter. AMS will fly to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission, targeted to launch Feb. 26, 2011. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller