The Bremen site of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has been the home of the Institute of Space Systems since 2007. The institute’s work includes analysing and evaluating complex spaceflight systems for their technological, economical and socio-political viability. It develops concepts for innovative space missions with high visibility at national and international level. Scientific, commercial and safety-related applications supported by spaceflight are developed and converted into collaborative projects with research and industry.
First, it is launched into space at 5400 kilometres per hour, then come three and a half minutes of weightlessness, and finally it lands using a parachute.
The final contenders in NASA’s Discovery programme, which invites scientists to propose unmanned planetary missions, have been announced. The Geophysical Monitoring Station (GEMS) for Mars mission proposal has made it to the final and decisive round of decision-making. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is significantly involved with a geophysical experiment aimed at investigating the interior of Mars. The aim of the mission, which may launch in early 2016, is to obtain our first ever impression of the 'interior life' of Mars through a series of direct measurements.