Monitoring microbes in spaceflight: the search for innovative antimicrobial surfaces

Marta Cortesao at ILA Berlin 2018 Science Slam, presenting what mould is, and its presence on the ISS

The International Space Station (ISS) is more than just a laboratory. To astronauts, it is their home. To survive outside of Earth's protective atmosphere, astronauts depend on the station’s closed environment, where they have constant temperature and moisture, an atmosphere, and several life-support systems such as water recycling and waste management. When you are in such an isolated habitat, especially one surrounded by harsh space conditions, you want everything to go exactly as planned. So, what happens when your food, walls, windows and systems become colonised with unwelcome microbes? read more

Unmanned helicopter superARTIS delivered humanitarian goods

Preparation of the next flight

During the second week of the pilot operation in the Dominican Republic, the superARTIS team performed different humanitarian delivery missions together with Wings for Aid and the World Food Programme. The flights took place in an area called 'Bajo Yuna', which suffers from frequent flooding and related 'last mile' delivery problems. These flight tests are one of the founding stones to connect DLR's UAS projects with applications in humanitarian technology. read more

Helicopter UAS superARTIS on a humanitarian mission in the Dominican Republic

Discussions with local stakeholders such as the Red Cross and identifying possible missions for the simulation

Last weekend, a team from Wings for Aid and DLR travelled to the Dominican Republic (DR), to test Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for humanitarian aid. They planned to deliver disposable boxes carrying 20 kilograms of emergency goods and drop them safely at their destination using DLR’s helicopter UAS, superARTIS. read more

From Stuttgart to the ISS – the arduous journey of a student experiment

PAPELL experiment team with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (centre)

The 'horizons' mission is very exciting – not just for us, the members of the DLR mission team. It is also a fascinating time for student groups from the universities of Stuttgart, Duisburg-Essen and Frankfurt – all of them winners of the ‘High-flyers’ competition, which was organised by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the German Physical Society (Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft; DPG) in 2016. read more

The first two weeks of the horizons mission

Sunrise - seen from the ISS, photographed by Alexander Gerst during the horizons mission.

The 'horizons' mission has been underway for almost two weeks. Alexander Gerst arrived safely at the ISS on 8 June 2018. He gave his first press conference from an altitude of 400 kilometres on 12 June and assisted in an extravehicular activity on 14 June. The 42-year-old German ESA astronaut is now working on scientific experiments in the European Columbus laboratory. The DLR 'horizons' Mission Manager, Volker Schmid, looks back on two eventful weeks. read more

Hayabusa2 and MASCOT lander nearing Ryugu

Hayabusa2, JAXA's asteroid explorer, and the MASCOT lander, developed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the French space agency (CNES) have been travelling through space since December 2014.

They are finally closing in on their destination asteroid – Ryugu. As of 14 June 2018, the distance between Hayabusa2 and Ryugu is less than 770 kilometres and the closing speed is 2.1 metres per second. read more

SOFIA's 'open-heart surgery'

A rare sight – the view from inside SOFIA's telescope chamber, looking out through the telescope door opening into the Lufthansa Technik hangar

SOFIA's heart is really sensitive, which is why the doors to it are usually only opened when she is on 'Cloud 9'. At altitudes in excess of 12 kilometres, the air is very clean and there is no danger that the mirror inside SOFIA will become dirty. Any maintenance on the mirror – a thorough cleaning or its installation or removal – brings with it a high risk of damage.

At the heart of the joint NASA and DLR airborne observatory, SOFIA, is a 2.7-metre, 800-kilogram primary mirror made of fragile glass – a custom-made reflector for which there is no replacement. This is why it is only ever handled with 'velvet gloves' and treated like the princess from the fairy tale 'The Princess and the Pea'. Should the mirror break, it would be the end of SOFIA.

Yet the telescope doors have been opened on the ground? read more

SOFIA, the two-fold stargazer

I have worked in the Space Science Department at the DLR Space Administration since October 2016. I could not imagine a better job than my own as SOFIA project engineer. I tend to commute between Bonn and California quite regularly as the NASA/DLR airborne observatory has its home base in Palmdale. But for around a month now, I have been in Hamburg with SOFIA.

Like any other aircraft, this one – registered as N747NA and named the Clipper Lindbergh – requires regular maintenance. This is no ordinary aircraft, though, as the Clipper Lindbergh is just one of 45 special variants of the classic Boeing 747 that were ever built: a so-called 747SP (special performance). Fewer than eight of these 'old timers' remain in service today. What is more, the Clipper Lindberg was modified to make space for the SOFIA telescope, which weighs 'just' 17 tons. So we are dealing with quite a few special features all at once. That is why inspections for its next certification are now on the agenda, and they are far more detailed than those for normal airliners or cars. read more

Why does SOFIA have a bulge?

SOFIA at German Aerospace Day in Cologne

You could say that SOFIA is the aircraft equivalent of the hunchback of Notredame, as unlike its elegant colleagues that we know and appreciate from normal air transport, our observatory has a hunch, or a bulge. Does that make SOFIA unattractive? Perhaps! But I believe that it is the bulge that makes the aircraft so interesting, as it hides SOFIA’s inner treasure: the telescope, the star trackers and last but not least the door system as well – with all the integral components. read more

Larsen C – A giant in motion

Displacement of the iceberg at the Larsen-C ice shelf between July and October 2017

The A68 iceberg has been making headlines again after calving from the Larsen-C in July 2017. What happened? It moved and shrunk minimally. And while that may not be unusual, it is still worth a blog post.

Close examination of satellite image sequences from the last two months reveals the striking events unfolding there. Remember, the 5800 square kilometre iceberg is seven times the size of Berlin and is permanently moving. The iceberg has collided repeatedly with the ice shelf, dislodging smaller pieces of ice. read more