The Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory’s Tevatron particle accelerator is set to retire on Friday, ending its 25 year career in an Illinois prairie.

The Tevatron has been outranked by the more powerful atom smasher Large Hadron Collider, built by the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN).

U.S. physicists will now have to work with CERN on high-energy projects instead of pursuing the research on their own turf.

The American particle accelerator failed to raise enough funds to keep the Tevatron running or to build another particle physics project.

The Tevatron helped produce the first protons and antiprotons collisions inside the CDF detector on October 13, 1985. 

Fermilab has seen over 3,000 physicists throughout its career and 532 students have received their Ph.D in its program.

Fermilab said it hopes to make neutrino research one of the centerpieces of the post-Tevatron era.

Rob Roser and Giovanni Punzi, co-spokespersons for CDF, which is one of two detectors positioned along the four-mile Tevatron accelerator ring, both posted a joint thank you to the Tevatron program.

“The success of a program like this goes well beyond just those scientists involved,” both the spokespersons said in a statement. “Twenty six years of fruitful operation requires a commitment from everyone here at the laboratory. From the accelerator scientists, to the technical staffs, the people in the business systems and those that maintain the laboratory infrastructure – each of you played a role in this success story.”

“Thank you, Fermilab. We did it together, and we did it very well!”