Tahiti, 26 January 2025 – This is a first for the Fenua. Installed at Hitia’a, at the foot of the cliff being worked on, this machine, which looks like a space conquest, will enable non-invasive ‘X-raying’ of the mountain using muons, particles naturally present in the atmosphere and capable of penetrating matter. Several local and national research centres are involved in this scientific project, the applications of which will be useful for this strategic site, and more widely for island environments.
It may look like a mission to Mars, but it was at the foot of the PK 43 embankment in Hitia’a that a muon detector was installed a few days ago as part of the scientific research carried out by Jean-Christophe Ianigro and Jacques Marteau of the Institut de Physique des Deux Infinis (IP2I) in Lyon, in conjunction with the CNRS and in partnership with Fayçal Rejiba from the Milieux environnementaux, transferts et interactions dans les hydrosystèmes et les sols (METIS) laboratory at the Sorbonne in Paris, and Jean-Martial Mari and Keitapu Maamaatuaiahutapu from the University of French Polynesia (UPF), via the South Pacific Geosciences Laboratory (GEPASUD).
https://www.tahiti-infos.com/Un-premier-muographe-installe-au-PK-43_a228498.html