Sat, Apr 30, 2011 page2

• Scientists hail Taiwan’s efforts in space research

  BIG QUESTIONS: Taiwanese scientists have played a key role in developing the AMS-02, which is to gather data that will shed light on the origin of the universe

  • Staff Writer, with CNA
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  The launch of US space shuttle Endeavor scheduled for yesterday was to mark a major breakthrough in Taiwan’s participation in international space research programs, according to a local scientist.

  One of the main missions of the Endeavor on its 25th and final space flight will be to deliver a particle physics detector, which Taiwan has assisted in developing, to the International Space Station, said Jinchi Hao (荊溪暠), a project director at the military-run Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST).

  “When the Endeavor goes into space, it will mark a step forward in our space technology development,” Jinchi said.

  The detector, which is technically known as an Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-02 (AMS-02), is a state-of-the-art device constructed to search the universe for dark matter and antimatter.

  “The AMS will use the unique environment of space to provide advanced knowledge of the -universe and lead to the understanding of the origin of the universe by searching for antimatter, dark matter and measuring cosmic rays,” Jinchi said prior to his departure for the US earlier this week to witness the space shuttle’s liftoff.

  The AMS program is headed by Samuel Ting (丁肇中), a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who is also an academic at Academia Sinica, the nation’s highest research institute.

  An international team of 600 scientists from 16 countries was tasked with designing, constructing, testing and operating the AMS and the Chungshan Institute is a core member of the team responsible for developing the detector’s electronics systems, Jinchi said.

  “The CSIST team is responsible for the global data acquisition system design, development, manufacturing and testing, and has cooperated with other participating countries to build the detector’s electronic systems,” Jinchi said.

  The systems control electrical circuits, the power source, ground transmission and data processing.

  In addition to transforming raw data collected by the detector into electronic signals, Jinchi said, the electronics systems must filter out irrelevant signals and transmit them back to the ground station.

  Jinchi formally joined AMS’ electronics system development project in 2001, when the program had already entered its second stage.

  In the first stage, a European country was charged with the mission of developing the electronics system, he said. However, the country failed to meet the schedule.

  Ting returned to Taiwan to commission the Chungshan Institute to develop a similar system and the institute completed an initial system simultaneously with the European country in 1998.

  The Taiwan-developed system was first thought to be a spare system. However, much to the surprise of observers, the -European-developed system did not pass integration testing, while the CSIST-developed system passed testing on the first try, gaining international respect.

  “We have since played an important role in multinational meetings on AMS-related issues,” Jinchi said.

  The delivery of the AMS to the International Space Station has been delayed several times because of a series of unexpected developments, including the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia in 2003 and US space budget cuts.

  With Ting’s perseverance, the project was finally revived following US President Barack Obama’s election as president in 2008, Jinchi said.

  Ahead of the 2008 election, Ting contacted the two presidential candidates — Obama and US Senator John McCain — urging them to deliver the AMS to the space station once either of them was elected. Both camps gave Ting a positive response.

  According to Jinchi, Ting attaches great importance to Taiwan’s participation in the AMS program and has attended every AMS-related meeting held in Taiwan.

  The Endeavor was scheduled to liftoff last night at 3:47pm EDT (3:47am today Taipei time) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a 14-day mission to the International Space Station. When it returns to Earth it will become the second of the US’ three-shuttle fleet to enter retirement.
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