Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer will go to the ISS!

In a surprisingly bi-partisan decision (409 to 15) the House overwhelming voted more funding for NASA, despite Bush's stated opposition (AP story here).

Part of the extra funding goes toward an additional Shuttle launch that will take the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the Space Station. Seeing as a lot of money has already been spent on building the AMS and storing it in a warehouse near DC for the last few years, actually using the thing is good for the both the tax-payer and science.

[Expanded diagram of the AMS-02 detector image from http://cyclo.mit.edu/~bmonreal/detector_intro.html ]