images

Atlantis docked to the International Space station 07/2011

by

Nasa/Novapix

Reference

e-sts13-53051

Date

2011-07-31

This picture, photographed by NASA astronaut Ron Garan during the spacewalk conducted on July 12, 2011, shows the International Space Station with space shuttle Atlantis docked at right and a Russian Soyuz docked to Pirs, below the sun at far left. In the center foreground is the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) experiment installed during the STS-134 mission. AMS is a state-of-the-art particle physics detector designed to use the unique environment of space to advance knowledge of the universe and lead to the understanding of the universe's origin by searching for antimatter and dark matter, and measuring cosmic rays.