NASA under pressure to extend space shuttle's life

IT'S one of the priciest scientific instruments never used - and a thorn in NASA's side. Now the agency may be forced to delay the retirement of the space shuttle so that it can haul the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer particle detector into space. More than a decade ago, NASA agreed to lug the AMS to the International Space Station. There it will probe the origin of cosmic rays, measure antimatter, and look for hints of dark matter More

(Source: New Scientist - Jun 19)