The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer arrives on the Shuttle Landing Facility runway aboard an Air Force C-5M aircraft from Europe.

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, or AMS, arrives on the Shuttle Landing Facility runway aboard an Air Force C-5M aircraft from Europe. The state-of-the-art particle physics detector is designed to operate as an external module on the International Space Station. It will use the unique environment of space to study the universe and its origin by searching for dark matter.

AMS will fly to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission targeted to launch Feb. 26, 2011. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller