News
Planet Mercury seen ‘in a different light’ for first time
Fifth flyby of Mercury by BepiColombo space probe:
Mercury is the innermost and smallest of the eight planets. Outwardly, it bears a strong resemblance to Earth's Moon, but the planet differs considerably from it in terms of its structure and composition. Planetary…
Explanation found for encrusting of the Martian soil
Temperature measurements of the HP³ Mars mole have provided new insights:
Mole, the Martian mole: for four years it had a small but highly regarded 'career' in planetary research. The experiment, unprecedented in the field, was named after the recognisable tunnel-digging mammal, but its…
JUICE space probe to fly by the Moon and Earth
With the close flybys the space probe's trajectory will be changed, setting it on the ideal course to Venus:
The highly anticipated space manoeuvre has been named LEGA, for 'Lunar-Earth Gravity Assist' – which roughly means Moon-Earth gravity deflection. For the first time, the orbit of a space probe will be altered by the…
DLR laser clock achieves world-class accuracy
Laser clocks are set to improve satellite navigation and deliver a precise global time signal:
A new laser clock from the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) has achieved a record level of accuracy for optical clocks with gas cells: in 30 million years, it would be off by…
How Earth got its water
Distant asteroids thought to have brought large amounts of water to Earth:
Although water is essential for the existence of life on Earth, its presence on our planet was by no means a foregone conclusion. Millions of asteroid fragments from regions of the Solar System far from the Sun are…
Good clean fun times two
DLR is working at two new institutes in Cottbus to help make industry and flying more sustainable :
Lowering CO₂ emissions is a pressing problem of our time. In Cottbus, people are working on solutions for it. Supported by funding for structural economic change, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) founded two…
Breakthrough in Gravitational Wave Physics
Black Hole Scattering at Unprecedented Precision:
In a groundbreaking achievement, an international team led by IRIS Adlershof member Jan Plefka has computed the dynamics of two black holes scattering off each other at the highest level of precision ever attained.…
Real-time situation maps for disaster management
DLR creates live situation maps for international exercise for the first time and analyses data with open source AI:
From 21 to 25 May 2024, the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) took part in the international disaster relief exercise ACHILLES 2024 in Switzerland. For the first time, a team…
“Lucy” discovers a double moon around asteroid Dinkinesh
DLR scientists made a surprising observation when analysing the image data from the NASA space probe:
First a small surprise and then a big one: when NASA's Lucy space probe transmitted the first images to Earth after its flyby of the small asteroid Dinkinesh on 1 November 2023, it revealed a moon behind the 720-metre…
A stroke of luck – The meteorite from the Havelland
Planetary researcher Jörn Helbert examined the very rare object in the DLR laboratory:
Sunday, 21 January 2024. It’s about half past two. The night over Brandenburg is clear when, suddenly, a fiery streak illuminates the sky. A chunk of a rock from space, half a metre long and weighing about 140 kilos,…
ESA approves Venus EnVision mission
DLR is contributing a multispectral camera to map the mineralogy and perform measurements in the venusian atmosphere:
Venus, Earth's inner neighbouring planet, is a mysterious celestial body. Almost the same size as Earth, with only a slightly smaller mass and largely made up of the same materials as Earth, Venus has developed in a…
DLR’s Mars camera – 20 years of operations
The first image was transmitted to Earth on 10 January 2004:
An extraordinary success story, and a long-lasting one at that. For 20 years now, DLR's High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board the European Space Agency (ESA) Mars Express orbiter has been providing the science…
Better coordination of emergency services in buildings
DLR tracking system makes people and surrounding structures visible:
Emergency responders operating in buildings or industrial plants should not only know their exact location. In order for a mission to be coordinated, it is also important that the location of each individual team…
MO-SPACE: communicating securely with quanta
With his start-up, aerospace engineer Michael Ullrich wants to provide the highest standard for secure communication:
Not everything that rushes through the airwaves is intended for other people’s eyes and ears. Administration, businesses, and the military have always relied on information being confidential. Because of this,…
The traffic manager
Katharina Marienhagen and her team look after more than 2,100 traffic lights in Berlin:
Two hours of Berlin traffic, day after day. From the far northwest to the far southeast in the morning, and back again in the evening. Once Katharina Marienhagen has reached her desk in Adlershof via Falkensee, the…
DLR, JAXA and CNES signed a trilateral agreement on cooperation for the MMX mission
As part of the MMX mission, the German-French rover IDEFIX will land on the Martian moon Phobos:
The origin of the martian moons Phobos and Deimos is still an unsolved mystery in planetary research. Both moons will be the targets of the Japanese Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission. A German-French rover will…
IQ spacecom technology equips Israel's Beresheet2 mission to the moon
Berlin-based IQ Technologies for Earth and Space GmbH announces the involvement of its IQ spacecom technology in the Beresheet2 mission of the Israeli non-profit organization SpaceIL :
SpaceIL is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting science and science education. In April 2019, SpaceIL became the first private organization in history to reach the moon, securing Israel's position as the…
Flexible charging strategy in electrified logistics fleets can relieve pressure on power grids
Reiner Lemoine Institute (RLI), IAV and E.DIS Netz GmbH presented the results of the research project Netz_eLOG on the intelligent grid integration of e-mobility:
Electric fleets in the logistics industry offer secured flexibility for the power grid. Together with grid-serving charging strategies, they can help to avoid bottlenecks or overloads in distribution grids and make…
Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft with DLR instruments on its way to Europe’s spaceport in Kourou
ESA mission spacecraft launches to Jupiter in April to study the planet and its icy moons, especially Ganymede:
"Trois, deux, un – et décollage!" This is how the last three seconds will be counted down in the control centre in Kourou, French Guiana, this April before one of the last Ariane 5 launch vehicles lifts off from…
Kathrin Goldammer becomes member of German-Japanese Energy Transition Council
The council aims to promote scientific exchange on energy transition issues between the two countries:
The German Japanese Energy Transition Council (GJETC) has appointed RLI Managing Director Kathrin Goldammer as a member. At the council’s recent meeting in Berlin on November 28-29, she will attend the meeting for the…