The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest technology project of all time: an outpost of humanity in space. At the same time, it is a flying laboratory with outstanding possibilities for scientific and industrial research. The ISS proves that peaceful international use of space is to the advantage of all its partners.
A special website presenting all the German astronauts that have flown in space, and the latest German astronaut candidate – Alexander Gerst. In 1978, Sigmund Jähn, a citizen of the German Democratic Republic, became the first German to travel to space. In addition to Jähn, this astronaut special contains brief biographies of Ulf Merbold, Reinhard Furrer, Ernst Messerschmid, Ulrich Walter, Klaus-Dietrich Flade, Reinhold Ewald, Gerhard Thiele and Thomas Reiter. And finally, Hans Schlegel, the German astronaut to fly most recently; he flew on STS-122, the mission during which Columbus was attached to the International Space Station, in 2008.
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest technology project of all time. The European Columbus module is the newest section of the Space Station. Even with Columbus attached, the ISS is still not finished. Follow its development and see our interactive animation of the construction of the ISS.
In February 2008, the astronauts of the STS-122 mission installed the Columbus space laboratory in its final position on the International Space Station ISS. This image gallery shows the Columbus Laboratory from transportation in the Beluga Airbus to assembly in space.
This blog was operated by ESA in cooperation with DLR. It was updated by the media team of ESA and direct input was received from the Columbus lab ground controllers, ESA astronauts and Web editors at the Columbus Control Centre, Germany, and the Kennedy and Johnson Space Centers, USA.
The first results from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) have been released. This space 'camera' has recorded 20 billion cosmic particles in the first 18 months of operation – yet that is just a small step.
Human skin is an organ with many functions; it regulates, among other things, the water balance and temperature of the body, it prevents the entry of pathogens, protects the body from ultraviolet radiation and serves as a sensory organ. But how does it react to the harsh conditions of space? Researchers at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) are seeking answers to these questions with the SKIN B experiment, funded by DLR Space Administration. The experiment started its journey to the International Space Station (ISS) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 21:43 CET on 28 March 2013, carried by the Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft with the crew of ISS Expedition 35.