Epic Journey: A 200-Ton Neutrino Detector's Odyssey
2025-01-26
The 200-ton spectrometer for the Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino experiment (KATRIN) completed an epic 63-day, near 9000-kilometer journey from Deggendorf to Karlsruhe, Germany. Too large (nearly 10 meters at its widest point) and heavy for road transport, it embarked on a complex journey by barge and sea, navigating the Danube, Black Sea, and Mediterranean before finally reaching the Rhine and being lifted into place by a massive crane. The trip wasn't without incident, including a storm that damaged its protective cover, but its successful arrival paves the way for the experiment to directly measure the mass of the neutrino.