  For the first time in the CERN history two experimental programs devoted to
study nucleus-nucleus collisions at high energies are performed in parallel. In
the SPS ion program, carried out by NA61/SHINE, interactions of light and
medium size ions in the energy range 5-20 GeV are investigated. The program
aims to discover the critical point of strongly interacting matter as well as
establish properties of the onset of deconfinement. In 2010 ALICE, ATLAS and
CMS at LHC recorded first data on Pb+Pb collisions at the highest energy
reached up to now, 2760 GeV. This opens a new exciting area in the field of
heavy ion collisions. The relation between the two programs is discussed in
this presentation. Surprisingly, the first LHC results strongly support the
NA49 discovery of the onset of deconfinement and thus further experimental
study of nucleus-nucleus collisions at the CERN SPS.
