Installation start of the FAIR accelerator machine: First magnets successfully installed in the tunnel, 17 meters underground
02.08.2024 |
The starting signal for the installation of the FAIR accelerator machine has been given. The high-precision assembly work in the buildings of the international FAIR accelerator facility in Darmstadt has begun: The first magnets each weighing tons were successfully positioned in the ring tunnel, 17 meters underground. This marks a decisive step forward in the realization of the state-of-the-art accelerator, which will accelerate ions of all elements up to 99 percent of the speed of light. The Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) is being built at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in close international collaboration.
FAIR is one of the largest projects and one of the most innovative high-tech facilities for research worldwide. Groundbreaking new discoveries about matter and the universe can be expected from FAIR's cutting-edge research. Scientists from all over the world will conduct a wide range of novel experiments at FAIR, from astrophysics to cancer research.
The buildings for the current realization stage of FAIR are completed and the installation of the technical building equipment is at a very advanced stage. In the coming years, several thousands of high-tech components of the FAIR accelerator and experimental facilities will be installed. The first components now installed are superconducting magnets, each weighing around three tons. A total of 108 of these will be installed. They will be part of the 1.1 km ring accelerator SIS100, which will be able to accelerate ions of all elements to up to 99 per cent of the speed of light. The function of the magnets is to steer the particles in the ring accelerator and keep them on course on the circular path.
“With the high-tech superconducting magnets, we are now starting to install the FAIR accelerator machine. We have been working towards this consistently and with the greatest commitment for years," says Jörg Blaurock, Technical Managing Director of GSI and FAIR. "All of the high-tech components manufactured worldwide and now ready for installation, were previously developed and tested in sophisticated procedures. This success is the result of careful planning and the enormous commitment of everyone involved. I am proud of the outstanding collaboration between our employees, the cooperation partners from research and industry, the many planning experts and supporters and, of course, our shareholders, who have made possible this transition into the next realization phase of FAIR." (GSI)
About FAIR
Currently the international accelerator facility FAIR, one of the largest and most complex building projects for international cutting-edge research worldwide, is being built in Darmstadt. On a site of approximately 20 hectares, unique buildings are being constructed in order to house and operate newly developed high-tech research facilities. This multinational and highly complex mega construction project has entailed the development of integrated construction workflow planning that closely coordinates building, civil and construction engineering, accelerator development and construction, and scientific experiments. At FAIR, matter that usually only exists in the depth of space will be produced in the lab for research. Scientists from all over the world will be able to gain new insights into the structure of matter and the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to the present.
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