On April 19th 2011, the space shuttle Endeavour will launch its final scheduled flight. Endeavour will travel to the International Space Station to deliver a scientific instrument called the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 which will be used to try to detect antimatter (to solve a long-standing puzzle of why so little exists in our Universe) and search for the subatomic signature of dark matter....er, at least that's what it says on the Discover Magazine blog.
While words like Spectrometer, antimatter, and dark matter are enough to make anyone's inner sci-fi lover swoon, what really gets me are all of the many small scientific advancements that are required to simulate the most basic details of life on Earth for astronauts in space. For example, how does one furnish a zero gravity environment like the ISS?
