CREAM

The Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM) experiment flew up at the edge of space and set new records for duration and distance. CREAM is designed to explore the supernova acceleration limit of cosmic rays, the relativistic gas of protons, electrons and heavy nuclei arriving at Earth from outside the solar system. This flight also demonstrated the capabilites of the NASA Ultra-Long Duration Balloon (ULDB) support system. CREAM circumnavigated the south pole three times during the first flight, which set a flight duration record of 42 days. A cumulative duration of 70 days within 13 months was achieved when the second flight completed 28 days during two circumnavigations of the continent. The 3rd flight preparation is in progress.

IceCube and AMANDA

IceCube is a one-cubic-kilometer international high-energy neutrino observatory being built and installed in the clear deep ice below the South Pole Station and is scheduled to be completed in 2011. This is done by surounding the AMANDA experiment with IceCube detectors. This year alone they have doubled the size of the instrument installed thus far. Building upon the technology of AMANDA, IceCube is in search of neutrinos from the most violent astrophysical sources. IceCube has now joined the race to discover supersymmetric particles and the topological defects created in grand unified phase transitions in the early universe.

The Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Array

High energy cosmic rays are a rarity that is being studied with the help of the Pierre Auger Ray Array. The higher the energy level of a cosmic ray the rarer the occurance. To view these rays a big array of sensors was created. When completed there will be 1600 different surface detectors to monitor 3000 square kilometers. At the same time as the ground sensors collect data an optical detector records atmospheric fluorescence light. With observatories in both hemispheres, the Auger collaboration will have the opportunity to view cosmic rays across the entire sky. One site is now being constructed in Mendoza, Argentina and the second will be located in Utah's Millard County, south of Delta and west of Fillmore. By learning more about these high energy cosmic rays researchers hope to be able to learn where they come from and how they are created.