Articles for "Forschungsflugzeug"

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Space | 08. October 2021 | posted by Nicole Schmitz

Perseverance – the name says it all

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Perseverance takes a selfie after successful acquisition of a sample

On 18 February 2021, the Perseverance rover of NASA's Mars 2020 mission landed on Mars safe and sound. The research mission, initially scheduled to last two years, has begun. In this blog, DLR researcher Nicole Schmitz, together with her colleague Frank Preusker, will report regularly on the progress of the mission and the camera experiment in which they are involved. Both are part of the Science Team of the Mastcam-Z instrument, a stereo camera located on Perseverance's approximately two-metre-high mast. read more

Space | 21. September 2021 | posted by Celia Baumhoer

Aerial campaign on the Aletsch Glacier

DLR-Wissenschaftler auf dem Weg über den Gletscher zur Konkordiahütte
Copyright: © DLR/Celia Baumhoer
The path across the glacier to the Konkordia Hut

Only superlatives can properly describe the sheer magnitude of the Aletsch Glacier. Measuring over 22 kilometres in length and with a thickness of up to 900 metres, it is the largest glacier in the Alps, accounting for one fifth of Switzerland's total ice mass. But climate change is obviously leaving its mark on the Aletsch Glacier as well. How has the snow cover changed in the Jungfrau-Aletsch region over recent decades? How much mass is the glacier losing each year? At the start of September 2021, a DLR team from the Polar Monitor Project embarked on a two-week mission to seek answers to these and other questions using high-resolution aerial images and a variety of satellite sensors. read more

Aeronautics | 01. September 2021 | posted by Bernd Kärcher

Soot in aircraft exhaust and the climate impact of air traffic

Kondensstreifen am Himmel
Credit:DLR (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)
Aircraft engines emit soot particles that act as 'condensation nuclei'. Small cold water droplets immediately condense and freeze into minute ice crystals, becoming visible as contrails in the sky.

Aircraft emissions are associated with all sorts of environmental problems. Researchers have long been studying the different kinds of emissions in order to understand how air transport is altering the composition of the atmosphere, cloud cover and the climate. Aircraft contrails are anthropogenic clouds of ice. My work in the 1990s showed that the physical properties of the white wispy trails aircraft trace across the sky are best explained by their soot emissions – black carbon particles and condensable substances like sulphuric acid produced during the combustion of fossil fuels such as kerosene. read more

Aeronautics | 08. June 2021 | posted by Florian Wozny

Climate-neutral flight through carbon dioxide offsets – an interim solution

Flugzeug am Himmel
Credit: DLR/Alejandro Morellon (CC-BY 3.0)
More environmentally friendly air transport of the future – interim goal of climate-neutral flight

Since 2021, airlines have had to offset emissions on international flights that exceed the average values for 2019. This is done with the help of carbon dioxide compensation projects that invest in renewable energy sources or the preservation of forests, for example – that is, reduce or store greenhouse gas emissions. Credits are then issued for these projects. However, the climate impact of the credits depends strongly on the underlying project types. In a new DLR discussion paper, my team and I show the limits of mandatory offsetting.

Rising fuel prices have already led to airlines investing in technological advancements, as fuel accounts for approximately one third of total operating costs. For example, engines and combustion processes have been improved over the years. Fuel consumption is falling by about two percent per year. However, the environmental benefits have been offset by the enormous increase in air traffic. Policy-makers are faced with a dilemma. read more

Space | 22. March 2021 | posted by Manfred Gottwald

Using principles from painting – creating 3D-effect satellite images in true colour

Die physische Karte des Nördlinger Ries, abgeleitet aus einem farbkodierten, schräg beleuchteten digitalen Höhenmodell von TanDEM-X
Credit: © DLR
A physical map of the Nördlinger Ries, derived from a colour-coded, diagonally illuminated digital elevation model created using data acquired by TanDEM-X

How can an impression of three-dimensionality be created using a two-dimensional medium? In art, this question arose centuries ago. Certain painting techniques have since evolved to simulate effects of light and shadow, creating a 3D effect for the viewer. Such effects are referred to as trompe-l'œil – they 'deceive the eye'.

Earth observation satellites with multispectral sensors provide images in natural colours when their red, green and blue (RGB) channels are combined. However, they tend to appear somewhat 'flat'. To turn them into attractive, three-dimensional representations, they must first be 'transformed' into three dimensions. This can be achieved if we use proven methods from art as a guide in science, but this requires elevation information. read more

Space | 09. March 2021 | posted by Jess Bunchek

EDEN ISS - Growing vegetables in the eternal ice: Coming to Antarctica

Credit: DLR/NASA/Jess Bunchek
Neumayer III Station in Antarctica

The EDEN ISS greenhouse, developed by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR), has been in Antarctica since 2018. It was designed to conduct research into food production in deserts and cold regions, as well as exploring the possibility of growing fresh food in the hostile conditions of the Moon or Mars. Plant scientist Jess Bunchek from NASA's Kennedy Space Center is spending a year in the eternal ice as a DLR guest researcher. In this blog, she will report about her exciting research on Earth's coldest continent.

In a typical year, you can reach the Neumayer III Station in Antarctica by air, but as we all know, the last year has been anything but typical. With countries restricting travellers and flights being cancelled, the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), which runs Neumayer, came up with an alternative: go by ship. The icebreaker RV Polarstern (German for 'polar star') already travels annually from Germany to Neumayer to resupply the station, so adding a few passengers to this year's transit was a logical and COVID-safe solution for AWI. read more

Space | 23. February 2021 | posted by Nicole Schmitz

'We' are on Mars – here we go!

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
First high-resolution colour image of the landing site in Jezero Crater, taken by the Hazard Avoidance Camera (HazCam).

On 18 February 2021, the Perseverance rover of NASA's Mars 2020 mission landed on Mars safe and sound. The research mission, initially scheduled to last two years, has begun. In this blog, DLR researcher Nicole Schmitz, together with her colleague Frank Preusker, will report regularly on the progress of the mission and the camera experiment in which they are involved. Both are part of the Science Team of the Mastcam-Z instrument, a stereo camera located on Perseverance's approximately two-metre-high mast.

We're on Mars! That's the thought I've been waking up with for the past three days. Of course, 'we' are not actually on Mars, but it feels that way since Thursday 18 February, when the NASA Mars 2020 mission rover Perseverance touched down in Jezero Crater at 21:55 CET. It was set down gently by the sky crane, the same system that delivered Curiosity safely to Gale Crater almost nine years ago. Delivered? That might not be the correct word for this exceptional space manoeuvre that has made it possible for us researchers to embark on our mission. read more

Space | 03. December 2020 | posted by Ulrich Köhler

Sample return - first class spaceflight

Credit: DLR (CC-BY 3.0)
Separation of the sample capsule on 5 December 2020, during the return to Earth of the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 (artist's impression).

If there is one industry or scientific discipline in 2020 in which the infamous coronavirus pandemic has left relatively few traces, it is space exploration. Everything rises and falls; Newton and Kepler send their regards. There is simply no way around it. When expensive metal boxes are in orbit around Earth or out in the depths of the Solar System, with or without valuable human passengers, someone on the ground has to make sure that the mission continues. For obvious reasons, control of it must not simply be given up, as in most cases this would lead to the total loss of the very valuable spacecraft. read more

Space | 16. October 2020 | posted by Tilman Spohn

The InSight mission logbook

Credit: DLR (CC-BY 3.0)
 

Since February 2019, the scientific director of DLR's HP3 instrument, Tilman Spohn, has been providing us with the latest news about the InSight mission in the DLR blog and regularly explains the current situation of the heat probe HP3, which we affectionately refer to as the Mars 'Mole'. read more