DLR has its headquarters in Cologne. The site is located next to Cologne-Bonn airport. Approximately 1,500 employees work in the institutes and facilities and in the central administration.
The Institute of Composite Structures and Adaptive Systems, the Institute of Structures and Design, the Institute of Materials Research and the Center for Lightweight Production Technology (ZLP) – at its locations in Stade and Augsburg – of the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) have teamed up to develop automated processes for the production of components made of high-performance fibre metal laminates.
Six minutes of free fall, a gentle impact on the asteroid and then 11 minutes of rebounding until coming to rest. That is how, in the early hours of 3 October 2018, the journey of the MASCOT asteroid lander began on Asteroid Ryugu – a land full of wonder, mystery and challenges.
The new NASA Administrator James Frederick – 'Jim' Bridenstine – visited the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) on 5 October 2018. While at DLR's headquarters in Cologne, he took the opportunity to learn more about the pioneering projects for space exploration.
The near-Earth asteroid Ryugu, located approximately 300 million kilometres from Earth, has a new inhabitant: On 3 October 2018, the Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) landed on the asteroid and began to work. The lander successfully separated from the Japanese Hayabusa2 space probe at 03:58 CEST.
If everything goes according to plan, the moment will finally come on 3 October 2018. Early in the morning, at 03:58:15 CEST, the asteroid lander MASCOT will separate from the Hayabusa2 space probe and land on the surface of Ryugu a few minutes later. From the first moment of contact with the surface, this will be a journey into the unknown, as MASCOT could come to rest almost anywhere within a radius of about 200 metres from the point of touchdown, after bouncing a few times.