News.Astrohobby.PL Blog

In the southwest of the Tharsis volcanic region on Mars is the large impact crater Magellan, named after the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), carried by ESA's Mars Express orbiter and operated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), acquired images of unusual structures on the southern edge of the crater. The process by which these structures developed is not fully understood.

Paul van Son is the CEO of the Desertec Industrial Initiative that was founded in November 2009. He talked about the progress made and challenges facing the Desertec project with over 200 researchers and equipment manufacturers at the 13th Solar Symposium of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) on 29 June 2010 in Cologne. In a conversation with DLR Communications, Paul van Son describes the targets and cooperation attained thus far by the industrial consortium with the DLR research centre.

Taking off from the centre of one town and landing in another without passing through large airports – with tiltrotor aircraft, this is no longer just a dream. This combination of helicopter and airplane can help in handling the continually increasing traffic to airports. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) Braunschweig is working on such an aircraft as part of the EU’s Novel Innovative Competitive Effective Tilt Rotor Integrated Project, NICETRIP.

Last year’s deep slump in global air traffic appears to have bottomed out; the negative growth rates have returned to positive since the beginning of this year. The June 2009 level has been attained and even exceeded. This is one of the central declarations of the new Global Aviation Monitors (GAM) that the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has just published.

Researchers at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have received and analysed navigation signals transmitted from the first GPS ‘IIF’ satellite, using the 30-metre antenna at the German Space Operations Centre, GSOC, in Weilheim.

From the ground, the famous Nazca lines in Peru don’t look like much. It is only when you look at them from a height that the mysterious drawings on the stony desert floor come to life. The German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) TerraSAR-X radar satellite has seen them from space, providing a new view of this 2000-year-old World Heritage Site.

The Rosetta orbiter, which carries the DLR lander Philae, has completed more than two thirds of its journey to the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The most comprehensive cometary investigation ever, the mission will deliver DLR's Philae lander to the comet’s surface for in situ studies. The spacecraft and lander are due to close in on 21 Lutetia, a large Main-Belt Asteroid on 10 July.

Prof. Hans Müller-Steinhagen of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has been elected to chair the International Advisory Committee of the Desertec Industry Initiative. The panel will support the Initiative in establishing sustainable power generation capacity in the desert in northern Africa and in the Middle East. In an interview, Prof. Müller-Steinhagen explains why he believes in this project.

In Walt Disney's comic book "Donald Duck", Gyro Gearloose has a little helper - an electric bulb with two legs - always at his side to serve him. Although Alin Albu-Schäffer has yet to come up with a walking light bulb like that - a presence that is always close by, ready to accept instructions and to assist people - his research work is clearly guided by a similar vision. Albu-Schäffer is a Department Head at the Robotics and Mechatronics Center of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and is involved in the development of robots for use in space, industry and medicine.

The European Rosetta spacecraft has achieved a further milestone on its journey to the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. On 10 July 2010 at 17:45 CEST, the orbiter flew past asteroid Lutetia on its second and final pass of the asteroid belt at about 15 kilometres per second – 54,000 kilometres per hour – merely 3162 kilometres from the asteroid. The confirmation was delivered at 18:10 CEST to ESA's European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is participating in this unique mission.

This panoramic view of the Airbus A300 ZERO-G captures a moment of weightlessness on a parabolic flight. You can scroll across the image horizontally and vertically by holding down the mouse button or by using the arrow keys. The test equipment is secured to the aircraft cabin. A number of researchers are using floor-mounted lashings to prevent themselves from floating away from the equipment.