Microgravity User Support Center (MUSC)

Columbus (ISS) Control Center

LANDER Control Center (MCC)

The Microgravity User Support Center in Cologne is a co-operative facility of two scientific institutes, Aerospace Medicine, Materials Science and Space Operations and Astronaut Training. MUSC operates major equipment for the scientific use of space in the disciplines of materials science, biological and extraterrestrial sciences and technology. The center qualifies space experiments for their certification of flight readiness, supports operation during flight with the necessary infrastructure (e.g. with on ground science reference models of flight units, and ground support computing systems) and after each successful mission makes archived data accessible for users throughout Europe. In parallel, future mission targets are being investigated and development of new experimental and measurement processes takes place. Concerning data system development, user-oriented command, data acquisition and archiving systems for space experiments are provided.

MUSC runs two control centers, the ISS Control Center for facility operations on board the International Space Station (ISS) and the Lander Control Center for the HP³ tasks of the Mars Mission InSight and preparations for the Phobos Mission MMX.

At MUSC, two control centers are operated: the Facility Control Center for the International Space Station (ISS) and the Lander Control Center. Currently, the focus of the Lander Control Center is on preparing for the upcoming MMX mission to explore the Martian moon Phobos.

The International Space Station (ISS) is the world’s largest research facility for experiments under microgravity conditions. The ground infrastructure required for the scientific utilization of ISS facilities is distributed over various European User Support and Operations Centers (USOCs). With emphasis on the disciplines of biological sciences and materials physics, the MUSC in Cologne implemented the German USOC for support of research under microgravity conditions on board the ISS. Besides this, pilot experiments are tested on short-term microgravity missions in order to develop new facility concepts.

Experiments on the International Space Station

Responsibility for the payload- and experiment-related mission planning, mission execution and data management is administered in decentralised scientific centers across Europe known as European User Support Centers. In this network, the MUSC is integrated as the leading European User Support center. MUSC operates the space station facilities Biolab, Expose, DOSIS, Materials Science Lab (MSL), FASTER (Facility for Absorption and Surface Tension) and EML (Electromagnetic Levitator) by order of ESA.

Mars Moon Mission MMX

Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, whose origin and history of formation are largely unknown. Both moons are the target of the Japanese mission Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) with international participation. The spacecraft will carry a German-French rover that will land on the surface of Phobos to explore it in detail for several months.

LUNA Services LUNA Moon Analog Facility

Starting in 2024, MUSC will operate the new research and training facility LUNA in Cologne, in co-operation with other RB departments. LUNA will facilitate the development, simulation, and preparation of missions to the Earth’s Moon. The MUSC activities will focus on experimental and robotic missions, either stand-alone or in co-operation with astronauts. LUNA will provide training for future Moon astronauts, validation for robotic systems, and exercise cooperation between humans and robots. New technologies and activities for In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) will likewise be explored, together with the development of new operational concepts, training techniques and protocols. Within the scope of LUNA, MUSC will expand its scientific expertise in terms of geophysical methods.

Parabolic Flights

In the MUSC, space experiments are qualified for their certification of flight readiness, their operation during flight is supported with the necessary infrastructure (e.g. with science reference models on ground, and ground support computing systems) and post successful mission, data is publicised in European archives. In parallel, future mission targets are being investigated and development of new experimental and measurement processes takes place. Concerning data systems, user-oriented data acquisition and command systems for experiments in space are provided.

Virtual Control Room

The „Virtual Control Room“ is a feature with access to some selected telemetry data for the Missions MASCOT, InSight, ROSETTA, MSL (ISS) and EXPOSE (ISS), coming straight from the control rooms of the Microgravity User Support Center (MUSC).

Contact

Dr. rer. nat. habil. Jean-Pierre Paul de Vera
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Space Operations and Astronaut Training, RB-MSC
Köln-Porz
Tel.: +49 2203 601-1070


Virtual Control Room