The Daily Galaxy
When NASA launches "AMS-02" on Feb 27, 2011 at 4:04 PM Eastern. Sam
Ting Principal Investigator for the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2
experiment hopes that it will provide data that proves the existence of
parallel universes that are composed of anti-matter -discoveries could
prove verify theories and answer basic questions regarding how the
universe formed.
According to Ting, the experiment is already accruing data as it
awaits its February 2011 launch date. Scheduled to fly aboard the final
flight of the space shuttle Endeavour, STS-134, AMS-02 will search
through cosmic rays for exotic particles, antimatter and dark matter.
The experiment will be mounted to the outside of the International Space
Station (ISS) and will require no spacewalks to attach.
While Ting has certain things that he hopes to discover, he believes
that the most exciting questions are those that scientists don't even
know to ask yet.
The particles that the 7.5 ton experiment is currently registering
have had some of their qualities removed by the abrasive nature of
Earth’s atmosphere. This problem will be solved after Feb. 26 when the
AMS-02 is delivered to its new home on the space station’s S3 truss
assembly. From its high vantage point it is hoped that the experiment
will open new windows into particle physics and cause a revolution in
our understanding of the universe.
Ting hopes that AMS-02 will provide data that proves the existence of
parallel universes that are composed of anti-matter. It is also hoped
that the experiment will also discover particles that contain magnetic
and electric particles that are exactly the opposite of ordinary
particles -discoveries could verify theories and answer basic questions
regarding how the universe formed such as that of Burt Ovrut, professor
of theoretical high energy physics at the University of Pennsylvania and
pioneer of the use of M-theory to explain the Big bang without the
presence of a singularity
Ovrut and colleagues imagine two branes, universes like ours,
separated by a tiny gap as tiny as 10-32 meters. There would be no
communictaion between the two universes except for our parallel sister
universe's gravitational pull, which could cross the tiny gap.
Orvut's theory could explain the effect of dark matter where areas of
the universe are heavier than they should be given everything that's
present. With Ovrut's theory, the nagging problems surrounding the Big
Bang (beginning from what, and caused how?) are replaced by an eternal
cosmic cycle where dark energy is no longer a mysterious unknown
quantity, but rather the very extra gravitational force that drives the
universe to universe (brane-brane) interaction.
Up until AMS-02, mankind’s understanding of cosmic rays has been
limited to measuring light gathered in telescopes such as the Hubble
Space Telescope (HST). This experiment will be the first time that
charged particles can be studied in the cold vacuum of space – away from
the distorting influence of Earth’s turbulent atmosphere.
The AMS-02 P.I. is also hoping to find out what dark matter is made
of. This material is believed to be the “glue” that holds the universe
together. mankind’s understanding of cosmic rays has been limited to
measuring light gathered in telescopes such as the Hubble Space
Telescope (HST). This experiment will be the first time that charged
particles can be studied in the cold vacuum of space – away from the
distorting influence of Earth’s opaque atmosphere.
Casey Kazan
Sources:
http://ams02project.jsc.nasa.gov/
http://www.ams02.org/
http://www1.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/AMS-02.html
http://ams-02project.jsc.nasa.gov/http://www.ams02.org/http://www1.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/AMS-02.html
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