Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer

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Latest Shuttle News

Space shuttle Endeavour’s external tank is fully loaded with more than 500,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in preparation for today’s 3:47 p.m. EDT launch. Tanking operations began at 6:22 a.m. and concluded at 9:24 a.m. The countdown has entered a planned 2.5-hour hold at T-3 hours, during which the tank will remain in “stable replenish” mode, the Close Out Crew will prepare the White Room for astronaut arrival, and the Final Inspection Team will conduct its inspections.



 
Tja, es wäre ja auch zu schön gewesen ...

Der Start wird erst mal um mindestens 48 Stunden verschoben:

Endeavour Launch Scrubbed
Fri, 29 Apr 2011 06:18:33 PM UTC+0200

Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach has scrubbed today's STS-134 launch attempt because of an issue associated with Auxiliary Power Unit 1 heaters. There will be at least a 48-hour scrub turnaround while engineers assess the issue.


 
Latest Shuttle News: Endeavour Post-Scrub Briefing

Mission Management Team Chair and Shuttle Launch Integration Manager, Mike Moses explained the importance of the APU heaters that keep the hydrazine fuel from freezing in orbit. There are two heaters on APU 1 and both are required for operations. "It was pretty straight-forward scrub today," said Moses. "The team made a very good call."

Shuttle Launch Director, Mike Leinbach explained that the thermostat that controls the heater didn't kick on when it was called to do so.

Once the external fuel tank is drained and safe to work around, which takes about 24 hours, technicians will be able to access the aft of the shuttle. By Saturday night, they should be able to start the troubleshooting process.

The next launch attempt for Endeavour is no earlier than Monday at 2:33 p.m. EDT depending on the results of Saturday's analysis. There will be a launch team meeting this weekend to assess the data that is accumulated and then a determination will be made for the next step in preparing Endeavour for its final flight, the STS-134 mission to the International Space Station.


Auxilliary Power Units (APUs) sind Hilfstriebwerke, welche z.B. bei Flugzeugen zum Start der Haupttriebwerke erforderlich sind, aber auch vor deren Start zur autarken Erzeugung von Strom, Druckluft und Hydraulikdruck benötigt werden. Die Space Shuttle APUs werden zur Erzeugung von Hydraulikdruck eingesetzt. Sie werden mit Hydrazin betrieben und die Treibstoffleitungen müssen geheizt werden, um ein Einfrieren zu verhindern. Es wird vermutet, dass der Thermostatschalter für diese Heizung nicht richtig funktioniert. Um da ranzukommen, muss erst mal der kryogene Treibstoff aus dem externen Tank abgepumpt werden und das dauert etwa 24 Stunden.

The Space Shuttle APUs provide hydraulic pressure. The Space Shuttle has three redundant APUs, powered by hydrazine fuel. They function during powered ascent, re-entry, and landing. During ascent, the APUs provide hydraulic power for gimballing of Shuttle's engines and control surfaces. During landing, they power the control surfaces and brakes. Landing can be accomplished with only one APU working. On STS-9, two of Columbia's APUs caught fire, but the craft landed successfully.



 
Latest Shuttle News

No Launch Attempt Monday, Teams to Replace APU Heater Power Box
Sun, 01 May 2011 04:01:10 PM UTC+0200

There still are numerous factor to be worked out, but just based on the amount of time needed to do the fix, a new launch attempt wouldn’t happen before the end of the week, at the soonest.

Endeavour’s six astronauts are heading back to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for a few days of additional training before they return for the next launch attempt. The crew’s families also are going to return home today.

NASA Managers will hold a news conference update briefing on NASA TV at 2 p.m. EDT.

Also, frühestens am Ende der kommenden Woche gibt es einen neuen Countdown ...

 
Latest Shuttle News

NASA Managers Meet to Discuss Endeavour's Launch
Mon, 09 May 2011 02:37:35 PM UTC+0200

NASA managers have retargeted space shuttle Endeavour's launch to no earlier than Monday, May 16. After a meeting on Friday, they also extended the length of Endeavour's STS-134 mission to the International Space Station from 14 to 16 days. If Endeavour launches on May 16, liftoff would be at 8:56 a.m. EDT.

At 3 p.m. today, NASA Space Shuttle Program Launch Integration Manager Mike Moses and Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach will hold a news conference at Kennedy Space Center in Florida to discuss the progress of repairs since Endeavour's launch postponement on April 29. The news conference will air live on NASA Television and online at www.nasa.gov/ntv.

Over the weekend, Kennedy technicians installed and checked out new wiring that bypasses the suspect electrical wiring connecting the switchbox to the heaters. They also ran the heaters for up to 30 minutes to verify they are working properly and complete retesting of the other systems powered by the switchbox. Teams will begin closing out Endeavour's aft compartment and will begin launch countdown preps today.


Also, Start jetzt frühestens Montag in einer Woche am 16 Mai.

Heute Abend um 21 Uhr deutscher Zeit soll es noch eine News Conference darüber geben.

 
Latest Shuttle News

Endeavour's Launch Set for May 16
Mon, 09 May 2011 09:40:11 PM UTC+0200

NASA managers have set the liftoff of space shuttle Endeavour for 8:56 a.m. EDT on Monday, May 16. Space Shuttle Program Launch Integration Manager Mike Moses and Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach announced the date at a news briefing Monday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida


Also der Start ist jetzt auf kommenden Montag (16. Mai) um 14:56 MESZ festgelegt worden.
Hoffentlich klappt es diesmal ...

 
Latest Shuttle News

Endeavour, Weather Look Good for Monday Launch
Fri, 13 May 2011 04:47:03 PM UTC+0200

Teams at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida continue to prepare space shuttle Endeavour for a liftoff on Monday at 8:56 a.m. EDT. Everything is going on schedule reported NASA Test Director Jeff Spaulding.

Shuttle Weather Officer Kathy Winters reported that the current forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of acceptable conditions a launch time. There may be some storm disturbance around the time the rotating service structure is to be rolled back, now scheduled to begin at noon on Sunday, but launch day is looking good for Kennedy and also for booster recovery and abort landing sites.

NASA Managers will conduct a prelaunch news conference scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday and will air on NASA TV and www.nasa.gov/ntv.


Also weiterhin alles klar für den angepeilten Starttermin am Montag nachmittag deutscher Zeit (14:56 MESZ).
Heute abend gibt's noch mal eine News Conference um 22:00 Uhr.

 
Latest Shuttle News

External Tank Loading Complete, Weather Remains 70 Percent "Go"
Mon, 16 May 2011 08:43:20 AM UTC+0200

Space shuttle Endeavour’s external tank is fully loaded with more than 500,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in preparation for today’s 8:56 a.m. EDT launch.

Tanking operations began Sunday, May 15 at 11:36 p.m. and concluded this morning at 2:36 a.m.

The countdown has entered a planned 2.5-hour hold at T-3 hours, during which the tank will remain in “stable replenish” mode, the Close Out Crew will prepare the White Room for astronaut arrival, and the Final Inspection Team will conduct its inspections.

Shuttle Weather Officer Kathy Winters continues to predict a 70 percent chance of favorable weather for today’s launch. The only concerns are for low cloud ceilings and high crosswinds at the Shuttle Landing Facility.




 

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Hi,

N24 kündigt eine Liveübertragung ab 14:45 an.
 
Shuttle News

A Great Launch, A Challenging Mission Ahead
Mon, 16 May 2011 05:35:13 PM UTC+0200

Space shuttle Endeavour is officially on its way to the International Space Station on its STS-134 mission and final flight. Endeavour lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on time at 8:56 a.m. EDT, soaring through a few clouds, after a relatively smooth countdown.

 

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Shuttle News

Endeavour Performs TI Burn
Wed, 18 May 2011 09:43:52 AM UTC+0200

Commander Mark Kelly and the crew of Endeavour performed the Terminal Initiation burn at 3:38 a.m. EDT, firing the left Orbital Maneuvering System engine for 10 seconds to place the shuttle on the final path for its 6:16 a.m. docking to the International Space Station. When Endeavour is about 600 feet from the station, Kelly will maneuver Endeavour through a backflip rotation to expose the heat shield to station crew members who will use digital cameras to photograph Endeavour’s upper and lower surfaces. Expedition 27 Commander Dmitry Kondratyev and Flight Engineers Paolo Nespoli and Cady Coleman will take about 500 pictures of the shuttle's thermal protection tiles. The photos will be transmitted to Mission Control for evaluation by imagery experts and mission managers to determine whether the heat shield sustained any damaged during launch.


A video camera on the International Space Station captured this view of space shuttle Endeavour performing the Terminal Initiation burn at 3:38 a.m. EDT Wednesday. Photo credit: NASA TV
 

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Latest Shuttle News

Endeavour Docks with International Space Station
Wed, 18 May 2011 12:20:14 PM UTC+0200

At 6:14 a.m. EDT, Commander Mark Kelly backed space shuttle Endeavour into pressurized mating adapter 2 on the International Space Station’s Harmony node. The two spacecraft were flying about 220 miles up above and east of Chile at the time they docked.

The shuttle and station crews will open hatches and hold the traditional welcome ceremony at about 8:36 a.m. Endeavour’s crew will be working with Expedition 27 Commander Dmitry Kondratyev and Russian Flight Engineers Andrey Borisenko and Alexander Samokutyaev, Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency, and NASA's Cady Coleman and Ron Garan.

The first robotic activity will be about 45 minutes after hatches are open, when the spare parts carrier, Express Logistics Carrier 3, will be transferred from the shuttle's robotic arm to the station’s robotic arm then installed on the port side of the station's truss structure. Among items on it are a spare ammonia tank, a high-pressure oxygen tank, two S-band antennas and 10 circuit breakers.

Mission Specialists Mike Fincke and Drew Feustel will transfer the spacesuits and spacewalk equipment over to the station’s Quest airlock and begin setting up for the first spacewalk, scheduled for Friday.

Today’s Mission Status Briefing is set for 9 a.m. and will air live on NASA TV and http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

A video camera on the International Space Station captured this view of space shuttle Endeavour as it approaches for docking. Photo credit: NASA TV.
 

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Shuttle News

Hatches Between Shuttle and Station Open
Wed, 18 May 2011 01:45:10 PM UTC+0200

Commander Mark Kelly and the STS-134 crew are welcomed aboard the International Space Station by the Expedition 27 crew. Photo credit: NASA TV
 

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Latest Shuttle News

Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 Installed
Thu, 19 May 2011 11:52:21 AM UTC+0200

At 5:46 a.m. EDT, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) was installed successfully on the outside of the International Space Station's right side. Mission Specialists Andrew Feustel and Roberto Vittori used the space shuttle’s robotic arm to extract it from Endeavour's payload bay. They handed it off to the space station’s Canadarm2, and Pilot Greg Johnson and Mission Specialist Greg Chamitoff then used the robotic arm to install AMS on the starboard side of the station’s truss.

The AMS team will monitor the experiment 24 hours a day, gathering data for as long as the space station is in orbit. Using a large magnet to create a magnetic field that will bend the path of the charged cosmic particles already traveling through space, eight different instruments will provide information on those particles as they make their way through the magnet.

Armed with that information, hundreds of scientists from 16 countries are hoping to determine what composes the universe and how it began, as the AMS searches for clues on the origin of dark matter and the existence of antimatter and other unusual matter. AMS also could provide information about pulsars, blazers, gamma ray bursts and any number of other cosmic phenomena.


Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer

Specifications:
o Mass: 14,809 lb (6,717 kg) or 6731 kg (14,839 lb)
o Power: 2000–2500 watts
o Internal data rate: 10 Gbit/s
o Data rate to ground: 2 Mbit/s
o Primary mission duration: 10 to 18 years
o Magnetic field intensity: 0.125 teslas produced by a 1,200 kg Nd2Fe14B permanent magnet

Module design:
o Transition radiation detector measures the velocities of the highest energy particles
o Upper time of flight counter, along with the lower time of flight counter, measures the velocities of lower energy particles
o Star tracker determines the orientation of the module in space
o Silicon tracker measures the coordinates of charged particles in the magnetic field
o Permanent magnet bends the path of charged particles so they can be identified
o Anti-coincidence counter rejects stray particles that enter through the sides
o Ring imaging Cherenkov detector measures velocity of fast particles with extreme accuracy
o Electromagnetic calorimeter measures the total energy of the particles

Bilder aus Wikipedia.en

(1) Location of the AMS on the International Space Station (upper left)
(2) A computer generated image showing AMS-02 mounted to the ISS S3 Upper Inboard Payload Attach Site
 

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Noch ein paar Bilder:
 

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STATUS REPORT : STS-134-29 STS-134 MCC Status Report #29 HOUSTON – Endeavour undocked from the International Space Station at 10:55 p.m. CDT Sunday, ending a stay of 11 days, 17 hours and 41 minutes at the orbiting laboratory.

Pilot Greg Johnson, at the aft flight deck controls, flew Endeavour in a circle around the station at distances of about 450 to 650 feet. Crew members took still and video images of the station.

As Johnson was about to begin the flyaround, Commander Mark Kelly radioed mission control that he could see the $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer particle physics detector Endeavour had brought to orbit.

Kelly subsequently maneuvered the shuttle on a rendezvous-like course, winding up at a point about 950 feet below the station. There the shuttle did a separation burn, beginning its departure from the area ...

Endeavour is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center at 1:35 a.m. on Wednesday.

Today the crew will check out the flight and reaction control systems and prepare for their return to Earth.

A video camera on the exterior of the International Space Station captured this image of space shuttle Endeavour a little less than an hour after the two spacecraft undocked. Photo credit: NASA TV
 

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Nachtlandung um 02:35 Uhr Ortszeit:

Go for Deorbit Burn

Touchdown Movie

Endeavour Lands at Kennedy Space Center
Wed, 01 Jun 2011 08:35:21 AM UTC+0200

Space shuttle Endeavour and the STS-134 crew landed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:35 a.m. EDT Wednesday.

Photo credits: NASA TV

Map showing the path to the landing facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Space shuttle Endeavour makes its final landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
 

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Von der AMS Collaboration Homepage:

AMS first events

AMS Data Acquisition (Simulation)

Here are two events collected on may 19th 2011, the first moments of AMS on the ISS after its activation. The first event is a 20 GeV electron while the second is a 42 GeV Carbon nucleus.

The detectors started operating smoothly and nominally since the beginnng of its life on ISS. We are since collecting data at a 9 Mbps average downlink rate, accumulating millions of Cosmic Ray events
 

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Happily collecting from the CERN POCC

> AMS-02 sammelt weiterhin Daten mit einer Rate von 50 Millionen Teilchen pro Tag

> der Datenfluss beträgt kontinuierlich 10 Mbps (Mega bits pro Sekunde)

> das POCC (payload operation control center) wird seit dem 24. Juni von CERN in der Schweiz betrieben

 

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Bis zu ersten öffentlichen Ergebnissen von AMS-02 wird wohl noch einige Zeit vergehen. Immerhin scheint der Detektor in guter Verfassung zu sein und die Datennahme weiterhin nach Plan zu verlaufen. Hier sind ein paar interessante Links mit Informationen zum Status aus dem Dunstkreis eines der beteiligten Institute (KIT-IEKP-Karlsruhe):

G. Drexlin: Astroteilchenphysik - Vorlesung (22 Seiten, 4.3 MB)

M. Heil: Performance of AMS-02 on the International Space Station - Talk (19 Seiten, 2.5 MB)

D. Schuckardt: Messung der kosmischen Strahlung im Erdmagnetfeld mit dem AMS-02 Detektor - Bachelorarbeit (89 Seiten, 15 MB)

Allerdings, Vorlesung und Talk zeigen noch die überholte Gesamtansicht mit der letztlich aufgegebenen supraleitenden Magnettechnologie, siehe wikipedia

A cryogenic, superconducting magnet system was developed for the AMS-02. This was a critical technology, enabling a high sensitivity needed to achieve mission objectives. Late in its development, poorly understood anomalous heating in the cryogenic magnet system was discovered. The anomalous heating would place additional demand on the cryogenic cooling. This characteristic significantly reduced the original system design lifetime and contributed to a decision to abandon the cryogenic system in favor of a previously developed but less capable permanent magnet system.

With Obama administration plans to extend International Space Station operations beyond 2015, the decision has been made by AMS management to exchange the original AMS-02 superconducting magnet for the non-superconducting magnet previously flown on AMS-01. Although the non-superconducting magnet has a weaker field strength, its on-orbit operational time at ISS is expected to be 10 to 18 years versus only 3 years for the superconducting version. This additional data gathering time has been deemed more important than higher experiment sensitivity, despite the fact that the abandoned cryogenic system was originally described as critical technology to mission success. Whether the ISS will operate long enough for AMS to take full advantage of its extended lifetime is also unclear.

 
Nach langer 'schöpferischer' Pause, mal wieder ein Lebenszeichen von AMS:

Welcome to the Edoardo Amaldi ATV-3

April 2nd, 2012

Almost a year since its installation on the ISS, AMS-02 is smoothly collecting Cosmic Rays with energies ranging from 100’s of MeV to a several TeV: event number 14.000.000.000 (14 billions) was recorded on March 19th.

Data, which exceeded already 100 Terabyte of storage, through the Science Operation Centre reach the various Regional Sites from where the AMS-02 Collaboration can perform calibrationS and analysis.

Every details, including thermal conditions and ISS related operations which can affect AMS, is monitored from the POCC at CERN.

On Wednesday March 28th the ESA unmanned ATV-3 “Edoardo Amaldi” docked at 22:34 GMT. Its goals include readjusting the ISS orbit. Two such manoeuvres were carried out at 18:10 and 22:46 on March 29th, without affecting the spectrometer data tacking.

This ATV-3 docking is an opportunity to recall everybody that in a month and half AMS-02 will have its first anniversary in the space!


AMS Data Flow

 
AMS - First Year in Space

Am 19. Mai hatte die Datennahme von AMS ihren ersten Geburtstag. Bislang sind 17 Milliarden kosmische Teilchenspuren registriert worden. Darunter befinden sich außer den besonders prominenten Wasserstoff und Heliumatomkernen auch mittelschwere Ionen wie Stickstoff, Neon, Aluminium, Silizium, Phosphor, Schwefel, Kalium, Kalzium, usw. bis Vanadium und Eisen. Es wurden auch hochenergetische Elektronen und Positronen mit Energien bis zu 1 TeV (*) registriert. Von Positronen mal abgesehen bislang keine Verlautbarungen zu Teilchen aus Antimaterie.

(*) 1 TeV = 10^12 eV

image credit: The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Experiment (AMS-02)
 

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