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 Researching Inner and Outer Space | Twenty years after the first human traveled into space, the U.S. space agency NASA's shuttle fleet established itself with the launch of Columbia on April 12, 1981. For 30 years, in 135 missions, the U.S. Space Shuttle Program brought 356 astronauts from a total of 16 countries, among them seven Germans, into space. Marking the end of an era, the last shuttle, Atlantis, returned from its final voyage on July 21, 2011.
The development of space flight and the International Space Station (ISS), the largest outpost of humanity in space, supports research benefiting the fields of medicine, agriculture, mechanical engineering, earth observation, and climate control. According to the German Aerospace Center (DLR), German scientists have accomplished numerous experiments, such as the investigation of the human equilibrium system, the breeding of protein crystals, and basic physics (plasma research) onboard the ISS.
For this issue of E-NNOVATION Germany, we interviewed Reinhold Ewald, who, in 1997, spent 19 days aboard the MIR Space Station. He was involved in life science experiments, where he underwent strict metabolic control to discover how the human body stores sodium under specific conditions. Today, as operations manager at the Columbus Control Center, the facility responsible for communications between the astronauts and ground crew of 75 scientists and engineers who supervise European activities on the ISS, he continues to be involved in research stemming from the original work he conducted in space 14 years ago.
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From Physicist to Astronaut: Reinhold Ewald
Born in 1956, Ewald studied physics at the University of Cologne, where he also received his PhD in 1986. As a young research associate at the German Research Foundation (DFG), his work focused on the structure and dynamics of interstellar molecular clouds, which are thought to be the birthplace of new stars. He is currently the operations manager at the European Space Agency's Columbus Control Center in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. For a complete bio, please click here.
In this GCRI Interview, Ewald discusses how research results obtained in space affect daily life on Earth and which technological innovations he wishes had existed 14 years ago. He also reflects on the end of the U.S. Space Shuttle era and shares his thoughts on space tourism. To read the full interview, click here.
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Cleaning Up Space: DLR's DEOS Mission
Due to its speed, even an orbiting paint fleck could damage a spacecraft. On June 28, 2011, the International Space Station (ISS) experienced a near miss with a piece of space debris flying in dangerously close proximity to the station. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is currently developing and building two satellites with the goal of catching, repairing, and/or disposing of decommissioned satellites. Within the framework of the DEOS project (German Orbital Servicing Mission), scientists at DLR's Robotic and Mechatronic Center in Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich, Germany, are working on a "servicer," an active service satellite. The servicer would seize another satellite which simulates a non-cooperative passive target. A robotic device called a "manipulator," mounted on the servicer, could then grasp the defunct satellite. In a successful DEOS demonstration, the servicer would close in on the target, capture it, and guide it to re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, where it would be destroyed. Operated by DLR's German Space Operations Center (GSOC), DEOS includes the use of the European Proximity Operations Facility (EPOS).
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The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the International Space Station is Probing some of the Deepest Mysteries of the Universe
Professor Stefan Schael, Chair of Experimental Physics at RWTH Aachen University, coordinated Germany's contributions to AMS, and his group participated in developing and assembling several AMS components.
AMS, which was mounted on the ISS on May 19th, 2011, is a state-of-the-art cosmic ray detector that aims to unravel some of the deepest mysteries of the universe. For example, AMS will attempt to shed light on the nature of dark matter, the existence of which has only been inferred from its gravitational imprint. Then there is antimatter: according to the Big Bang theory, when the universe was created, matter and antimatter were produced in equal quantities. Until now, there has been no direct evidence for the existence of cosmic antimatter.
"Today, our physical theories are capable of explaining about 4 percent of what the universe is made of - for the other 96 percent, we are using terms such as 'dark matter' and 'dark energy,' but we really don't know much about it," says Professor Schael. For further information, click here. To contact Professor Schael, click here.
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Cluster of Excellence: Origin and Structure of the Universe
These questions illustrate the themes scientists have to address when studying the universe. To this day, scientists have not found a satisfactory explanation for how the cosmic building blocks of matter, space and the basic forces have developed. Also, the question is still open as to why the standard model of physics cannot explain a number of phenomena of modern particle- and astrophysics.
The Cluster of Excellence Origin and Structure of the Universe was established at the Technische Universität München (TUM) in October 2006 within the Excellence Initiative of the German Research Foundation (DFG). This unique and internationally-recognized collaboration consists of more than 200 scientists working to decode the great secret called the "universe."
Located near Munich, at the Research Center at Garching, the Universe Cluster unifies the physics faculties of TUM and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU). Other partners are the University Observatory of LMU, several Max-Planck-Institutes and the European Southern Observatory (ESO). For more information, click here.
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New Plasma Technology for the Treatment of Chronic Wounds and the Removal of Ehec-Bacteria
Picture: Using the hand-held plasma device, Ehec-bacteria can be effectively removed from vegetables at home. |
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