Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer
Particle detector on the International Space Station
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| April 2024 | Extensive cosmic ray dataset discussed at the APS April meeting, challenging existing theoretical models of the cosmos. |
| January 25 2020 | Fourth spacewalk conducted to repair the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS). Astronauts performed leak checks on the cooling system, identified and fixed a leak in one of the cooling lines. The mission lasted 6 hours and 16 minutes. Preliminary testing showed the AMS was responding as expected, and the tracker detector began collecting science data shortly after. |
| 2019 | A study using NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope discovered a halo around the nearby pulsar Geminga, suggesting it could be responsible for up to 20% of high-energy positrons seen by AMS-02. |
| December 2 2019 | Third spacewalk conducted to upgrade the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer's cooling system. Astronauts installed the upgraded tracker thermal pump system (UTTPS), completed power and data cable connections, and connected eight cooling lines. They also installed an insulating blanket on the nadir side of the AMS. The spacewalk lasted 6 hours and 2 minutes, with the flight control team on Earth confirming power and data reception. |
| November 2019 | After four years of planning, special tools and equipment were sent to the International Space Station to conduct in-situ repairs of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, requiring four spacewalks and including the replenishment of liquid carbon dioxide coolant. |
| November 22 2019 | Astronauts Parmitano and Morgan conducted a spacewalk to repair the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, cutting eight stainless steel tubes and preparing for a new cooling system installation. The spacewalk lasted 6 hours and 33 minutes. |
| November 15 2019 | First spacewalk conducted for the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS). Astronauts performed multiple tasks including removing the debris shield, installing handrails, removing zip ties, and disassembling protective covers. The spacewalk lasted 6 hours and 39 minutes, with astronauts Parmitano and Morgan working together to prepare and modify the AMS equipment. |
| December 2018 | Funding for the International Space Station was announced to be extended to 2030, ensuring continued operational support for the AMS-02 instrument. |
| April 2017 | Only one of the 4 redundant coolant pumps for the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer's silicon trackers was fully working, with repairs being planned despite the instrument not being originally designed for in-space servicing. |
| December 2016 | AMS revealed the discovery of a few signals potentially consistent with antihelium nuclei amidst several billion helium nuclei, though the result requires further verification. |
| April 2015 | The AMS team presented new data at CERN, covering 300 million proton events and helium flux. |
| September 18 2014 | New results with almost twice as much data were presented at CERN and published in Physical Review Letters, reporting a new measurement of positron fraction up to 500 GeV. |
| April 3 2013 | First physics results were published in Physical Review Letters, detailing 6.8×10^6 positron and electron events collected in the energy range from 0.5 to 350 GeV. |
| March 30 2013 | The first results from the AMS experiment were announced by the CERN press office. |
| February 2013 | Samuel Ting reported that in its first 18 months of operation, AMS had recorded 25 billion particle events, including nearly eight billion fast electrons and positrons, providing evidence about the weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) model of dark matter. |
| August 26 2010 | AMS-02 underwent final alignment beam testing at CERN before scheduled delivery to Kennedy Space Center. |
| February 16 2010 | AMS-02 was shipped to ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) facility in the Netherlands for comprehensive testing, including thermal vacuum, electromagnetic compatibility, and electromagnetic interference evaluations. |
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia article Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.