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7.11.19 - 50 Jahre Satelliten-Nation Deutschland: Start des ersten Forschungssatelliten AZUR (German) Vor fünfzig Jahren, am 8. November 1969, startete der erste deutsche Satellit AZUR an Bord einer amerikanischen Scout-Rakete aus Vandenberg, Kalifornien. Das eigens in Oberpfaffenhofen errichtete Deutsche Raumfahrtkontrollzentrum (GSOC, German Space Operations Center) übernahm eine Woche später die Betriebsverantwortung von AZUR. Damit stieg die Bundesrepublik Deutschland in die Riege der Nationen auf, die über einen Satelliten verfügten wie bereits die USA, die Sowjetunion, Großbritannien, Italien, Frankreich, Kanada, Japan und Australien. Read more

22.8-19 - The near-Earth asteroid Ryugu – a fragile cosmic 'rubble pile' In the summer of 2018, the asteroid Ryugu, which measures only approximately 850 metres across, was visited by the Japanese Hayabusa2 spacecraft. On board was the 10-kilogram German-French Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) – a lander no bigger than a microwave oven and equipped with four instruments. On 3 October 2018 MASCOT, operated by the control centre at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) in Cologne, separated from its mother craft 41 metres above the asteroid. It touched down on the surface for the first time six minutes after deployment, before coming to a halt 11 minutes later, like a dice on a board game moving in slow motion. Over the course of 17 hours, MASCOT carried out experiments in various places amid the large boulders. Evaluation of the image data from DLR's MASCOT camera (MASCam) showing the descent and Ryugu’s surface has now revealed a detailed view of a fragile 'rubble pile' made up of two different, almost black, types of rock with little internal cohesion. Read more

19.6.19 - A rover for Phobos and Deimos Mars has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos. These are the target of the Japanese Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, which also involves international partners. Scheduled for launch in 2024. it will enter Mars orbit n 2025, and return samples to Earth in 2029. The spacecraft will carry a German-French rover that will land on either Phobos or Deimos and explore the surface in detail for several months. Read more

26.4.19 - Rosetta 'post-mission' – new findings relating to the temperature and nature of the comet's surface Two-and-a-half years have passed since the operational phase of the Rosetta mission came to an end in September 2016. However, scientific evaluation of the enormous amounts of data from the instruments on the spacecraft and the Philae lander is still ongoing. The team of scientists working on the VIRTIS instrument have now published new findings relating to the surface temperature and thermal effects on the 'duck-shaped' Comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko in the 22 April 2019 issue of Nature Astronomy. Germany's scientific contributions to VIRTIS are led by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR). Read more

11.4.19 - Lunar gravity 600 kilometres above Earth The compact German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) Eu:CROPIS satellite is now rotating in space at a rate of 17.5 revolutions per minute, generating a gravitational force in its interior similar to that found on the Moon. After its launch on 3 December 2018, DLR engineers successfully tested and commanded the spacecraft. The experiments were then put into operation on 5 December. As the upload of updated software for the two greenhouses inside the spacecraft caused delays in January 2019, the engineers and scientists replanned the sequence of additional experiments. After the experiments with the SCalable On-BoaRd Computing Experiment (SCORE) and the RAdiation Measurement In Space (RAMIS) devices, the third experiment, PowerCell, a mission contribution from NASA, was activated under lunar gravity conditions. Read more

11.4.19- Tests for the InSight 'Mole' A blue box, a cubic metre of Mars-like sand, a rock, a fully-functional model of the Mars 'Mole' and a seismometer – these are the main components with which the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) is simulating the current situation on Mars. After its first hammering operation on 28 February 2019, the DLR Heat and Physical Properties Package (HP³), the Mars Mole, was only able to drive itself about 30 centimetres into the Martian subsurface. DLR planetary researchers and engineers are now analysing how this could have happened and looking into what measures could be taken to remedy the situation. Read more

21.03.19 - InSight mission – Diagnostic run for the 'Mole' on Mars The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) will command the Mars ‘Mole’ to begin a short new round of hammering at the end of March. The seismometer and the camera will closely monitor the movement of the Mole. The researchers want to analyse in more detail the situation of the self-hammering probe, which has shown no further progress since it reached a depth of approximately 30 centimetres at the beginning of March. Different ideas for releasing the Mole require a more detailed analysis of the situation and at least a few more weeks to test different strategies on Earth. Read more

11.3.19 - Vom Nordpolarkreis in die Schwerelosigkeit Rund ein Jahr lang hatten die Studierendenteams aus Bremen, München und Jena auf diesen Moment hingearbeitet: Am 11. März 2019 ist um 10:20 Uhr Mitteleuropäischer Zeit (MEZ) die Forschungsrakete REXUS 25 erfolgreich vom Raumfahrtzentrum Esrange bei Kiruna in Nordschweden gestartet. An Bord befanden sich die Experimente der deutschen Teams sowie von Studierenden der Universität Danzig und der TU Eindhoven. Die Rakete erreichte bei dem Flug eine Höhe von rund 80 Kilometern, wobei für rund zwei Minuten Schwerelosigkeit herrschte. Read more