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The Austral summer of 2001 - 2002 was an
exciting time for the Wash U -
Caltech - Goddard collaboration. The Trans-Iron Galactic Element
Recorder (TIGER) was launched from
McMurdo Station on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica on a Long-Duration
Balloon. After completing two
circuits of the continent at about 118,000 feet, lasting nearly 32
days, TIGER brought back with it data on the elemental
abundances of Galactic cosmic-ray nuclei heavier than iron, in the
energy range of a few GeV per nucleon. In doing
so, TIGER has enabled us to get closer to understanding the elusive
source of cosmic rays: whether they are accelerated
from the atmospheres of stars or from interstellar dust grains.
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