The Mars rover makes its way across rough terrain - but not on its own. A school pupil controls it. Although it is not a real rover conducting scientific experiments, the child is clearly thrilled by this game. Dirk Stiefs' objective is to spark an interest in science. The latest issue of the DLR Magazine features the creative head of the DLR_School_Lab in Bremen.
The countdown has begun! In this issue of the DLR Magazine we took a look at volcanic ash under a microscope, shared the excitement of scientists as SHEFEX II prepared for launch, caught a glimpse of Alexander Gerst's training for his upcoming mission in 2014 and went all the way to Poland to visit the kings of aircraft at their final destination.
The cover of DLR Magazine issue 133 shows the Soyuz launch facility and a launcher being prepared for lift-off at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. The Soyuz is carrying the first two satellites for the Galileo global satellite navigation system - Europe's independent navigation system.
The winter edition of the DLR Magazine gives an insight into life and work at the DLR GARS O’Higgins Antarctic station, as well as revealing what can be expected from the largest fundamental research experiment on the ISS – a particle detector. Picosatellites, orbital debris and satellite navigation systems are also covered.
Although the cover looks like batik work, it is actually an interferogram showing the landscape around the River Taz in Siberia. The data for the image was acquired by the TanDEM-X and TerraSAR-X satellites, which are flying in formation and surveying the surface of the Earth. By 2013, DLR will have created an extremely accurate digital elevation model of Earth’s entire land surface.
On the cover: simulated spheres of microscopic materials that bring the modelling of materials into focus, making it easier to predict their behaviour under stress. Whether they resist or fail under heavy loads is a crucial factor for aeronautics and space research, just as it is in energy and transport. Safety, and in turn security, is always the first priority – this is why security is one of the themes of the second English-language edition of the DLR Magazine.
It says Magazine on the cover and it lives up to its name – news, comment and interviews complement traditional articles written by DLR researchers, all prepared by specialist editors. Complex issues are made understandable and large projects are covered without leaving out the small steps on the road to an important discovery. The everyday work of researchers is placed in focus – people who with persistence, imagination and courage, invent something really new and innovative.