Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer 2
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer 2 (AMS-02) was carried to the ISS in Endeavour's payload bay, and was attached to the ISS's S3 truss segment. The AMS-02 unit is a particle physics detector which contains a large permanent magnet, and is designed to search for antimatter and investigate the origin and structure of dark matter.
According to the original design plan, a cryogenic, superconducting magnet system was developed for the AMS-02. This was reported by NASA to be a critical technology, granting the instrument the high sensitivity needed to achieve mission objectives. Late in its development, however, poorly-understood anomalous heating in the cryogenic magnet system was discovered. As a result, the AMS-02 experiment leader, Samuel C. C. Ting, decided to replace the superconducting magnet inside the spectrometer with the permanent magnet previously used in AMS-01.
Read more about this topic: STS-134, Mission Payload
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