AMS Experiment
University of Geneva Working Page
Welcome to the University of Geneva Web Site. You can find here usefull information concerning the work that has been done and is undergoing in the AMS Geneva group.
What is AMS ?
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) is a state-of-the-art particle physics detector 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 antimatter and dark matter while performing precision measurements of cosmic rays' composition and flux. The AMS-02 observations will help answering fundamental questions, such as 'What makes up the universe's invisible mass?' or 'What did happen to the primordial antimatter?'
Artistic View of the AMS Detector on the International Space Station (ISS).
AMS News:
| Date | Latest Info. |
|---|---|
| 2013 | --- |
| 4 April | Prof. S. Ting announces first AMS results. See the first publication! |
| 2012 | ---- |
| 22 May | See Nasa's amazing pictures of AMS, from shuttle to ISS. |
| 19 May | GMT day 139, AMS was activated on ISS. Nominal data acquisition was started and first events recorded. All detectors showed nominal functionning. |
| 16 May | GMT day 136 at 16:27 (11:27 CDT, JSC local time) power was applied to AMS, commanding to and data from AMS were established shortly thereafter. |
| 16 May | AMS, on board of shuttle Endeavour, mission STS-134, was launched on Monday May 16, 2011 8:56 AM Eastern. |
| 29 Avril | STS-134 Launch postponed, againi (2hrs before expected launch)! Link to description of the problem (heater failure on APU). |
| 26 March | AMS has been installed on the Space Shuttle Endeavour. |
| 15 March | AMS successfully installed installed in the payload canister. |
| 20 January | STS-134 Launch sheduled for the 19th of april. |
| 2 December | STS-134 Launch Postponed to April 1st |
| 10-17 November | AMS Power ON for Nasa Internal Simulations and Training |
| 22-29 October | Local DAQ End-to-End Test simulating limited bandwidths operations |
| 27 July 2010 | AMS safely arrived and installed in KSC. Data (cosmic) taking since 28th! |
| 25 July 2010 | AMS Detector is ready and loaded on C5 AirBus for KSC. |
| 31 July 2010 | Test Beam in Cern starting on the 8th of August until the 20th. |
| 20 July 2010 | AMS Leaving Cern for KFC on the 26 of August. |
| 22 June 2010 | Official Lauch Date for AMS on the STS-134 mission. |
| 20 June 2010 | New Pages for the AMS-02 permanent magnet configuration |
May 16 - The beginning of new epoch for the AMS experiment!
On May 16, the AMS-02 detector finally began its journey towards the International Space Station. The dectector was intalled successfully on the ISS 3 days later and the first activation of the decteror showed nominal functionning. For many scientists of the AMS collaboration, this is a historical moment they have been waiting for almost a decade. Let's take the time to warmly thank all the actors of this beautiful scientific story, yet to continue.
Launch of the Endeavour STS-134 mission with AMS-02 on board (16 may 2011). Image from Nasa.
The AMS Detector in the Endeavour Shuttle docked to the ISS, prior to tranfer to ISS.
The AMS Detector in Endeavour Shuttle docked to the ISS (Nasa Image, see link).