An advanced scientific payload set to fly aboard space shuttle Endeavour in 2011 is beginning final preparations for its upcoming flight to the International Space Station. The pioneering Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 experiment arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Aug. 26 aboard a U.S. Air Force C-5M cargo aircraft. Known as AMS, the high-tech device could lead to new discoveries about the universe and its origin. AMS will use a powerful magnet and cutting-edge particle physics detector to measure the charged particles within cosmic rays. The nearly 15,000-pound experiment will be robotically installed on the station's main truss during shuttle Endeavour's final scheduled mission. Once it reaches its final destination in orbit, the experiment is expected to operate for at least a decade, until the end of the station's life.
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NASA ID
ksc_091710_ams
Date Created
September 17, 2010
Center
KSC
Media Type
video
Photographer
NASA
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