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Dear readers,
This year, not only does everything seem to happen a little
earlier, it also seems to pass more quickly. The ‘fifth season’ in
the German Rhineland was soon here and gone, and now Easter
is just around the corner. A winter break? Far from it. The weeks
are filled with, among other things, visits to DLR by prominent
figures from the world of politics. The President of Germany,
Joachim Gauck, bestowed this honour upon us in the company
of the Prime Minister of the Free State of Bavaria, Horst
Seehofer, and they were followed by the Czech Prime Minister
Petr Nec˘as, EU Commissioner Antonio Tajani, the Turkish Prime
Minister Tayyip Erdogan, and German Secretaries of State
Cornelia Rogall-Grothe and Anne Ruth Herkes. Many regional
politicians can be added to the above list – all in the first quarter.
One could have thought that there would not be a second one.
Preparing for visits of this kind is a resource-intensive
activity. Logistics, time management, presentations – all must
be planned down to the last detail. But despite the stress and
work that appointments of this kind may impose on a few of
our institutes, visits of this nature are very important for DLR.
German Federal and regional governments invest in research
and enjoy coming to visit as our guests. The number of visits to
the 13 DLR sites reflects the important role our research plays in
society. Moreover, both sides benefit, all driven by topical polit-
ical priorities. As many and varied as the visitors may be, and as
diverse and wide-ranging the topics and presentations, certain
political trends do tend to emerge clearly.
At present, in Oberpfaffenhofen, the topic of Earth
observation and crisis information is of particular interest. DLR
has taken the chair for a six-month period in the International
Charter ‘Space and Major Disasters’. What that means in prac-
tical terms is the subject of an article in this magazine. We also
report on DLR’s HALO research aircraft, on its flight to the
Antarctic and back home. We are unveiling a vision of a solar
sail to power satellites. Safe roads, railways and air travel are
topical items. All of these are DLR topics that never fail to
enthuse talented youngsters, as the cover image shows.
Naturally, we have far more to offer. Viewed in that light,
we can count ourselves fortunate that not all these matters are
at the top of the agenda for our visitors at the same time. Our
scientists, engineers and managers would otherwise never get
a chance to carry out their cutting-edge work. I hope that you
enjoy reading this magazine – with no visitors knocking at your
door, even if they are truly welcome…
Sabine Hoffmann
Head of DLR Corporate Communications
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