ScienceWednesday, November 11
Research ship Neil Armstrong arrives in Duluth to hunt for neutrinos in Lake Superior
The Daily Duluth team
The R/V Neil Armstrong pulled into Duluth on Monday, the 238-foot ship's first voyage through the Great Lakes. Researchers from UMD, Brookhaven National Laboratory and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will use it to place sensor arrays on the lakebed near Two Harbors. They're hunting for neutrinos, tiny particles that pass through almost everything.
The ship's trip to Duluth took 12 days
- 12 days
- for the ship's trip to Duluth
- 2,500 miles
- traveled to get here
- 16
- locks along the way
- 601 feet
- of elevation gain
Source: Fox21Online
Since 2005, a neutrino beam from Fermilab in Illinois has passed through Lake Superior on its way to northern Minnesota. "This is our chance to see the ones that have been going through Lake Superior all along," UMD physics professor Alec Habig said. The sensors watch for flashes of light and send data to shore by cable. The sensors come out in spring or early summer 2027, and the cables stay.
- Sensor arrays: five, going out one at a time
- First array: planned to go out this week
- Crew: around 22 people aboard the Neil Armstrong
- Funding: DARPA is helping with the project
The neutrino beam is set to shut off in February
- 2005Fermilab starts aiming a neutrino beam toward northern Minnesota.
- Oct. 28The R/V Neil Armstrong leaves Woods Hole, Massachusetts.
- Nov. 9The ship arrives in Duluth.
- Feb. 2027The beam is set to shut down.
- Spring '27Sensors will be removed as lake conditions allow.
Sources: Northern News Now, wdio.com, Kat Kountry 105
Sources: Fox21Online, Northern News Now, wdio.com, Kat Kountry 105