The Large Hadron Collider had its first hiccup yesterday, just a week after it fired up.
AFP reported today that the collider was stopped due to an electrical problem involving a cooling system. A spokeswoman for CERN, the organization that runs the LHC, said that "it's normal for there to be stoppages." The work was expected to resume sometime today.
What's more surprising is that the exceedingly complex, $5 billion, 17-mile collider hasn't had more problems during the startup phase. Getting beams of particles around the ring in both directions on the first day of operation was better than expected. The process is actually ahead of schedule and the first collisions, originally planned for Oct. 21, could happen within weeks.
See Also:
- Wired Science's complete Large Hadron Collider coverage
- CERN's live webcast from Geneva
- Large Hadron Collider: Best and Worst Case Scenarios
Image courtesy CERN
