The US Air Force has finally picked up a giant, space-bound particle detector from CERN, Europe’s particle laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) is a 15 year, US$2 billion detector designed to measure cosmic rays while perched on the outside of the International Space Station. It was picked up (above) by a completely awesome Lockheed Martin C-5M Super Galaxy, which flew it to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The AMS is the brain child of Nobel laureate Sam Ting, and has been through its fair share of trouble. The project was nearly derailed by the 2003 loss of the space shuttle Columbia, and more recently, problems with its primary magnet forced a last-minute swap. Launch aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour is scheduled for February 2011. It is scheduled to be the last trip that the Space Shuttle ever makes.

Image: CERN/M. Brice