The idea for the AMS experiment came to Ting on a stroll through the gardens of his home in Geneva, Switzerland, shortly after plans for another project (the Superconducting Super Collider) fell through. "The shocking thing is that not a single result can be explained by the current theoretical model," Nobel laureate and physicist Samuel Ting, who is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and leads the AMS experiment, tells Popular Mechanics. Together, these discoveries have shed new light on the composition of our universe. The instrument has also detected some of the heaviest forms of antimatter, including antihelium, anticarbon, and antioxygen-particles whose origins are still relatively unknown. Both of these types of antimatter likely form during the collision of cosmic rays. Here's Why.ĪMS has also detected antiprotons, the antimatter version of a proton, and positrons, which are the antimatter version of electrons. Did Scientists Stumble Upon a New Kind of Physics?.A Lunar Particle Collider Could Upend Physics.The data from these events will help NASA and other space agencies protect astronauts and equipment in space that this cosmic radiation could harm. So far, the instrument has detected over 180 billion cosmic ray events. Researchers created AMS to measure the cosmic rays that pierce through our solar system and beyond, helping us learn more about the mysterious matter that makes up the bulk of our universe. Scientists estimate that all observable matter in the universe-everything from goats to galaxies-makes up just five percent of our universe's mass energy. The astronauts, engineers, and scientists tasked with keeping the instrument operational are the subject of "Among the Stars," a dramatic new documentary released on Disney+ this week. Some 250 miles above Earth, an instrument attached to the International Space Station (ISS)-dubbed the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS)-is sifting through the cosmos, working to answer some of our universe's most pressing questions. The documentary follows NASA astronauts over the years as they perform maintenance on instrument in orbit.The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02), which launched in 2011, is attached to the International Space Station, and has collected data on 180 billion charged cosmic ray events.Disney+'s newest documentary, "Among the Stars," features a pioneering NASA mission designed to sift through the stars for evidence of dark matter and antimatter.
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