DLR Portal - Berlin

Landslides and lava flows on Olympus Mons

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:22:39 +0200

Huge landslides, lava flows and tectonic forces have generated the stunning landscape seen in these images acquired by the DLR-operated HRSC camera system on board the Mars Express spacecraft.

Explosive 'twin' craters on Mars

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:00:00 +0200

Intense underground steam explosions that occurred during the crater formation process could be responsible for the central depressions present in these 'twin' craters, located on Thaumasia Planum, an elevated plateau that lies immediately to the south of Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the Solar System.

Researching helicopter engine noise

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:00:00 +0100

For the first time, researchers at DLR have been able to carry out noise measurements inside a helicopter engine. To do so, researchers from the Division of Engine Acoustics at the DLR Institute of Propulsion Technology in Berlin used new hot gas microphone probes specially designed for investigating the processes responsible for noise generation.

Wind – a shaping force on Mars

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 11:03:38 +0100

The northern hemisphere of Mars is a single, massive lowland with only a few distinctive landscape features. Frequent, intense dust and sand storms are recurrent here over the course of the seasons. When this happens, the wind transports very small particles, which are either deposited in other locations, or, if they encounter rock, leave their mark through the effects of erosion.

JUICE – mission to the icy moons of Jupiter

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:18:56 +0100

Last week, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced its choice of scientific experiments for the JUICE Mission (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer). The decision taken involved two experiments developed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Planetary Research.

Fire and ice in the red valley

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 11:21:58 +0100

On 13 January 2013 the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), operated by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, imaged the mouth of the Tinto Vallis region of Mars, southwest of Palos Crater.

Glacial transportation of rubble and boulders through Reull Vallis

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 10:55:39 +0100

As we look at the numerous graben and valleys that wind through the Martian highlands, it is not always clear which geological processes created them.

Winter atmosphere on Mars

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 10:58:17 +0100

Observing a seasonal phenomenon has its own special appeal on Mars. As the planet's rotational axis has a slightly greater inclination to that of Earth, our planetary neighbour experiences distinct seasons too – except these last around twice as long since it takes nearly two Earth years for Mars to orbit the Sun.

Asteroid dust from space

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 14:03:30 +0100

To the naked eye there is nothing to see, and yet the small transparent container holds something never observed before. For the first time, scientists are studying asteroid dust collected by a spacecraft and returned to Earth. Ute Böttger, from the Institute of Planetary Research at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR), belongs to one of 11 teams across the world that are carrying out scientific work on the asteroid particles from the Japanese Hayabusa mission.

DLR Berlin-Adlershof

Thu, 19 May 2011 11:40:00 +0200

The DLR institute established at Berlin-Adlershof was founded in 1992 and is involved in all major European missions of planetary research venturing out into our Solar System.