Images related to HAPPE. In 1964 Luis Alvarez proposed what became known as the High Altitude Particle Physics Experiment (HAPPE), which was originally conceived as a large superconducting magnet carried to high altitude by a balloon in order to study extremely high-energy particle interactions. In time the focus of the experiment changed toward the study of cosmology and the role of both particles and radiation in the early universe. This effort included carrying detectors aloft with high-altitude balloon flights and high-flying U2 aircraft. The project was an early precursor to the COBE satellite-born experiments on the cosmic background radiation (which resulted in a 2006 Nobel Prize award for George Smoot and John Mather). Photograph date unknown. Client 33mm slide. [Photograph by: Unknown]