As Janine Schneider walks through the materials testing facility, her eyes light up; it is clear that she is comfortable between the long rows of test equipment. She knew she wanted to work here the moment she entered the premises of the DLR Institute of Materials Research in Cologne for the first time, during a trip there as a student. In our DLR Portraits series, we present the materials researcher.
The solar thermal power plant fed its full output of five megawatts into the grid for the first time on 25 January 2012. This power plant went into operation at the end of last year, and is the first parabolic trough collector array in which steam is generated directly in the collectors.
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.
'Encounter' a satellite in orbit, view the Moon and the Rhine Valley in 3D, board SOFIA, the airborne observatory, or visit the wind tunnel or astronaut training facility to experience the extreme conditions to which materials and people are exposed in space – these are just a few of the many space-related activities that DLR in Cologne will make available to the general public on 18 September 2011.
On 18 September 2011, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is holding its Aerospace Day in Cologne-Porz. On this date, DLR and the European Space Agency (ESA) – alongside other partners, will be showcasing their research projects from the aerospace, energy and transport sectors.
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the European Space Agency (ESA) are inviting 60 Twitter followers to the first joint European Space Tweetup as part of German Aerospace Day, on 18 September in Cologne, Germany.
On 16 May 2011 at 08:56 EDT (14:56 CEST), Space Shuttle Endeavour lifted off from Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center (Florida) on the penultimate shuttle mission (STS-134) to the International Space Station (ISS). On board are the commander Mark Kelly, pilot Gregory H. Johnson, mission specialists Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff, Andrew Feustel and Italian ESA astronaut Roberto Vittori.
Six thousand lithium fluoride crystals, each one holding information about radiation in space – this is the payload that astronaut Paolo Nespoli and his colleagues removed from the life-size Matroshka human dummy on the International Space Station (ISS) and sent back to Earth. Researchers at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) are now starting work on an evaluation of these small radiation detectors.
Resistant spores of bacillus subtilis have spent 22 months in the 'EXPOSE-R' test container outside the International Space Station (ISS). For the first time during a long-duration mission, they were mixed with artificial meteorite dust and exposed to the harsh conditions of outer space. Scientists at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) are now determining precisely how many of these spores have survived their stay in space. If it turns out that the meteorite dust was able to shield the spores from the hostile space environment, microorganisms may be capable of surviving in meteorites for long periods of time and travelling from one planet to another.
At a meeting in Berlin on 16 March 2011, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Australian Solar Institute (ASI) agreed to cooperate on research into concentrating solar energy technology. Senator Kim Carr, the Australian Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, and Ulrich Wagner, the DLR Executive Board Member for Energy and Transport, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to support this initiative. The technology is best suited to regions with high levels of solar radiation, which includes large parts of Australia.