When the next-to-last Space Shuttle, Endeavour, is launched on April 29 it will be carrying the $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) particle detector, an instrument designed to detect dark matter, antimatter and other exotic phenomena. “It has the potential of returning really Earth-shattering science,” said NASA’s Bill Gerstenmaier.
It has been reported that the event at Kennedy Space Center FL will be attended by the entire Obama family and by Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who is recovering from injuries suffered in an attack in Tucson. Giffords is the wife of crew leader Mark Kelly.
A team of 600 scientists from 16 nations, including China and Taiwan, are partners in this project.
After installing AMS, the Endeavour astronauts will perform four spacewalks and other tasks to get the space station ready for operations without shuttle support. The station is a $100 billion project of the US, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada that has been under construction since 1998 110 miles above Earth.
This will be the 25th and final space mission for Endeavour, which is expected to stay in orbit up to 16 days.
A final shuttle flight by Atlantis scheduled for June 28 will bring a year’s worth of supplies. This will complete the 30-year-old shuttle program. After that, the station will depend on smaller cargo ships from Russia, Europe and Japan.
