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Space Station AMS-02 Instrument Works on the Mystery of Dark Matter

September 4, 2024

    

A white hexagonal-shaped cover over the top of the instrument is emblazoned with the letters “AMS” facing in two directions. There is a white cover over the large base of the instrument as well. Solar panels are visible to the left of and behind the instrument with another exterior instrument to its right. The blue curve of Earth is visible in the lower right, with black space above it. Bright rays stream from the Sun in the upper left corner.
AMS-02 mounted on the outside of the space station.
NASA

Visible matter in the form of stars and planets adds up to about five percent of the total known mass of the Universe. The rest is either dark matter, antimatter, or dark energy. The exact nature of these substances is unknown, but the International Space Station’s Alpha-Magnetic Spectrometer or AMS-02 is helping to solve the mystery.

AMS-02 collects data on charged particles from cosmic ray events, which helps scientists understand the origin of those rays and could ultimately reveal whether dark matter and antimatter exist.

To date, the instrument has collected data on about 573 events per second on average – just over 18 billion per year. This high volume of data enables highly precise statistical analyses, and multiple groups of researchers independently process the raw data to ensure accurate results.

Learn more about astrophysics research on the space station.

A truss of the space station extends from the right across the center of this image. Several modules of the station are visible on the right. From right to left are a large solar panel extending toward the top of the image, and next to it, the hexagonal top of AMS-02 is visible. Two additional solar panels extend toward the top of the image and two others to either side of the truss. In the background is the blue Earth with scattered white clouds.
AMS-02 is the hexagonal shape visible on one of the space station’s trusses, just to the right of the center.
NASA