The Dark Matter Particle Explorer, or DAMPE
(also known as Wukong), is a Chinese Academy
of Sciences (CAS) satellite which launched
on 17 December 2015.
The satellite was launched on a Long March
2D rocket from Launch Pad 603 at the LC-43
complex, also known as the South Launch Site,
at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
It is China's first ever space observatory.
DAMPE is a space telescope used for the detection
of high energy gamma rays, electrons and cosmic
ray ions, to aid in the search for dark matter.
It was designed to look for the indirect decay
signal of a hypothetical dark matter candidate
called weakly interacting massive particles
(WIMPs).The project is the result of a collaboration
among research institutions and universities
in Italy, Switzerland and China under the
leadership of the Purple Mountain Observatory
(PMO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
== Objectives ==
The scientific objectives of the mission are:
the search and study of dark matter particles
by conducting high-resolution observations
of high-energy electrons and gamma rays.
the study of the origin of cosmic rays by
observing high energy electrons and heavy
nuclei in the TeV energy range.
the study of the propagation and acceleration
mechanisms of cosmic rays through the observation
of high-energy gamma rays.
== Collaboration ==
The project is the result of a collaboration
among research institutions and universities
in Italy, Switzerland and China under the
leadership of the Purple Mountain Observatory
(PMO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
The DAMPE mission is funded by the strategic
priority science and technology projects in
space science of CAS.
The institutes that have been part of the
collaboration are: IHEP (Institute of High
Energy Physics), CAS (Chinese Academy of Sciences),
Beijing, China; IMO (Institute of Modern Physics),
CAS (Chinese Academy of Sciences), Lanzhou,
China; NSSC (National Space Science Center),
CAS (Chinese Academy of Sciences), Beijing,
China; PMO (Purple Mountain Observatory),
CAS (Chinese Academy of Sciences), Nanjing,
China; USTC (University of Science and Technology
of China), Hefei, China; INFN (Istituto Nazionale
di Fisica Nucleare) and University of Perugia,
Italy; INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica
Nucleare) and University of Bari, Italy; INFN
(Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare) and
University of Lecce, Italy; DPNC (Département
de physique nucléaire et corpusculaire),
University of Geneva, Switzerland.
== Results ==
First results were released in Nov 2017.
== Naming ==
The space observatory is nicknamed Wukong
(Chinese: 悟空) after the Monkey King, who
is the hero in the classic Chinese tale Journey
to the West.
Literally, "wu"(悟) means comprehension or
understanding and "kong"（空）means void,
so this name could also be understood as "understanding
the void", relating to the undiscovered nature
of dark matter.The English name, DAMPE, was
a backronym, which was named after a NPC in
The Legend of Zelda, Dampé (ダンペイ).
In the game, player need Dampé to find the
treasure, which match with the mission of
DAMPE (not finding dark matter, but finding
the evidence that dark matter exist).
== References ==
