The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer experiment hangs on the side of the International Space Station, June 29, 2012.
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer experiment and an astronaut are seen in a reflected self-portrait outside the International Space Station, May 3, 2012.
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer experiment hangs on the side of the International Space Station, as seen from the window of a Soyuz spacecraft, May 3, 2012.
Astronaut Don Pettit swaps the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer's laptop hard drive aboard the International Space Station, February 3, 2012.
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer experiment hangs on the side of the International Space Station, July 12, 2011.
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer experiment seen during the STS-135 flyaround on July 19, 2011. Image was taken aboard space shuttle Atlantis after undocking on STS-135 Flight Day 12.
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) is seen in space shuttle Endeavour's payload bay after the shuttle reached orbit. Shortly after this image was taken, the AMS was moved from the payload bay to the station's starboard truss on May 19, 2011 (Flight Day 4).
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a $2 billion experiment to hunt for cosmic rays in space, stands in the clean room at the European physics lab CERN before it is shipped to NASA to be launched on a space shuttle.
An artist's concept shows the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a particle physics detector that is installed on the starboard truss of the International Space Station.
Technicians examine the $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer instrument in a work stand ahead of its planned launch on NASA's space shuttle Endeavour. The AMS instrument will search for cosmic rays from the International Space Station.
Back on August 25, 2010, workers loaded the AMS (inside the metal box at right) aboard a giant U.S. Air Force Galaxy jet for a flight from Geneva International Airport to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Endeavour shuttle commander Mark Kelly, left, and Nobel laureate Sam Ting (principal investigator for the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer) look over the instrument as it sits in a work stand at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida before its launch. Kelly commanded the STS-134 mission to take the AMS to the International Space Station in May 2011. The cutting edge instrument is the brainchild of Ting.
NASA's space shuttle Endeavour heads to the launch pad for its final mission, STS-134, to transport AMS to the space station. Here Endeavour is shown bathed in bright xenon spotlights on March 10, 2011 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Space shuttle Endeavour lifts off at 8:56 a.m. EDT on May 16 on its final flight - STS-134 - carrying AMS.
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer is transferred out of the space shuttle Endeavour's cargo bay by the shuttle's robotic arm on May 19.
The space shuttle's long Canadarm 2 robotic arm maneuvers AMS from space shuttle Endeavour's payload bay for installation on the station's starboard truss, on May 19, 2011
The powerful Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) is visible at center left. The blackness of space and Earth's horizon provide the backdrop for the scene, on May 20, 2011 (Flight Day 5 of the STS-134 shuttle mission).
An artist's concept of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer installed on the International Space Station.
The emblem of the STS-134 shuttle mission alludes to its cargo, the Alpha Magnetic Spectromer. The shape of the patch represents the symbol for the atom, with electrons orbiting around a nucleus. The sunburst in the center represents the Big Bang, the origin of the universe, which AMS is designed to study.
