DAMPE: DArk Matter Particle Explorer

Physicists face two major mysteries as we enter the twenty-first century: dark matter and dark energy. Vera Rubin’s observations of galaxies’ faster-than-expected rotational velocities led to the hypothesis of dark matter. This invisible yet gravitationally influential matter accounts for most of the mass in the universe. “Weakly Interacting Massive Particles” (WIMPs) are a proposed component of dark matter. Experiments seek evidence of WIMPs, like positron detection after WIMP annihilations. China’s DAMPE satellite is a cost-effective dark matter detector. Equipped with components like a plastic scintillator detector, silicon tungsten tracker, BGO calorimeter, and neutron detector, DAMPE measures cosmic rays with the greatest energy range and finest energy resolution. DAMPE is merely a start. China plans more satellite launches in the near future to strengthen the data collection. As China advances its space technology, it contributes to unveiling the obscuring mysteries of dark matter and dark energy. More data from probes like DAMPE brings humanity closer to dispelling these dark clouds plaguing physics.