A Brief History
On September 10, 2008, The Large Hadron Collider was powered up for the first time. Claimed to be the largest scientific experiment ever, the test site consists of a tunnel 17 miles in circumference for the purpose of accelerating and colliding sub-atomic and atomic particles.
Digging Deeper
Built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research, better known as CERN, in Switzerland, the project was the culmination of work by over 10,000 scientists from 100 countries, a truly massive project. Built between 1998 and 2008, the machine cost over $9 billion and has worked at an energy level as high as 3.5 teraelectronvolts.
The hefty price tag of the Large Hadron collider is puny compared to the $150 billion spent on the International Space Station, first launched in 1998 and still in service. With a mass of nearly a million pounds, the ISS is of course the largest space station yet built.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: What is the most impressive man-made project?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Kagels, R.T. ISS: INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION: THE MARVEL OF HUMAN INGENUITY. Kindle, 2024.
Lincoln, Don. The Large Hadron Collider. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014.
