IceCube Construction and Inauguration
IceCube is the world’s largest neutrino detector, encompassing a cubic kilometer of ice at the South Pole. The construction of the neutrino observatory lasted seven seasons, completed on December 18, 2010.
The IceCube detctor is made up of 86 strings iwth a total of 5,160 Digital Optical Modules that are used to sense and record neutrino events. The detector also includes a surface component called IceTop used to detect showers of secondary particles generated by interactions of high-energy cosmic rays in the atmosphere. Credit:Jamie Yang, NSF
DOMs are the 'eyes' of the IceCube detector. The more than five thousand DOMs were constructed at Stockholm University in Sweden, DESY in Germany, and Physical Sciences Lab (PSL) in Stoughton, Wisconsin, USA. Credit: DESY
To embed DOMs in the Ice, a custom hot water drill was designed and used. The drill was specially designed at the UW-Madison Physical Sciences Lab for the IceCube project as a high-pressure hose that melts through the ice at astonishing speed. Credit: Forest Banks/NSF
Once the holes are drilled, deployment specialists carefully connect DOMs to a cable, and lower them in the hole. Each hole has 60 DOMs on it, each with a unique name. Credit: John Jacobson, NSF
The last DOM in the IceCube array descended into the ice just before 6pm on the 18th of December, 2010 South Pole time. Credit: Robert Schwarz
The completion of IceCube is a milestone for science and it reflects the efforts of hundreds of people from around the world. Here IceCubers celebrate the completion of the world's largest neutrino detector at the South Pole.
Credit: Gary Hill/NSF
IceCube Team poses for a picture in front of deployment tower afer the completion of the IceCube Neutrino in December 2010. Credit:Chad Carpenter, NSF
IceCube held an inauguration in Madison, Wisconsin at the Monona Terrace on April 28, 2011 to celebrate the completion of IceCube's construction phase. Speakers included representatives from IceCube, UW-Madison, Congress, National Science Foundation, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek-Vlaanderen, Deutesches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, and the Swedish Research Council. Credit:Jay Salvo
Following the inauguration event, IceCube employees and guests celebrated the completion of construction with a reception and a meal at the Overture in Madison, Wisconsin. Credit:Jay Salvo