Deutsch (DE-CH-AT)English (United Kingdom)Russian (CIS)Italian - ItalyFrench (Fr)Español(Spanish Formal International)
Events
<<  March 2024  >>
 Mo  Tu  We  Th  Fr  Sa  Su 
      1  2  3
  4  5  6  7  8  910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
External news
User Rating: / 360
PoorBest 
press news - News Presse Deutsch

hq

After the successful completion of NASA Rover Challenge by the teams of the International Space Education Institute, the DLR Washington and the Directorate of Human Spaceflight NASA on April 12, 2014 , invited the teams to Washington. A week later, it was time. On Friday, the doors of the DLR building, and NASA headquarters were open for the Russian students, including a Russian born student of the German School Washington DC.

The permission to enter this building is reserved for NASA employees, and some official international guests. One such procedure usually takes around six weeks. The ISS director Sam Scimemi personally took responsibility for these students. The DLR office manager Jürgen Drescher, who accompanied the students, was also very interested.

isssomc

Sam Scimemi has taken over the responsibilities of the German American scientist Prof. Dr. Jesco von Puttkamer and leads the ISS section in the multi-story NASA administration building. He brings the group to the Space Operation Mission Directorate. This is the department that deals with the management of all active manned space projects and rocket launches. In a hallway many pictures documenting the construction phases of the International Space Station are hung upon the wall. All photos were taken from incoming or departing ships. This assortment of amazing pictures already bridges the last 15 years of ISS development.

Sam politely urges the group to hurry, and leads them into a kind of Mission Control Center. It is a space with large screens, a U-shaped table and numerous scientists, who are working on their laptops. The screens show a steaming rocket, and a countdown timer will count down the last 10 minutes before the start. It takes a moment for the students to realize that they have arrived in the heart of a currently occurring rocket launch. The eyes of the small 13 - year-old Russian Rover pilot Catherina are filled with hope. The 18 -year-old Vadim takes his pen and makes notes about the start procedures.

photosstart

Suddenly, the room is still, as the final seconds of the countdown have started. On the launch pad in the distant Cape Canaveral, is a "Falcon 9" rocket , from the company SpaceEX . It’s carrying “Dragon 3”, 2.5 tons of cargo in it’s onboard storage container. SpaceEX is one of two companies currently involved in the space program. NASA entrusts these two companies with cargo deliveries to the ISS. The scientists in the room now carefully decipher the data received from the company.

Dim lights 3-2-1-0, vibrations cannot be felt. But the pictures on the screen make it clear what kind of forces must currently be in play in Florida. The rocket takes off. "We have liftoff!” All the students capture the events with their smartphones. Four onboard cameras are recording, and streaming a view of the propulsion stages. Numerous other camera images can be viewed on the small screens on the walls. The rocket quickly gains altitude. After about two minutes, the rocket starts to separate its stages. The room is still dead silent, no clapping.

Now, the Falcon 9 rocket accelerates. 4 more infrared cameras observe the outside temperature of the engine. Still, all scientists are curious and watch all the data received. After a nine-minute burn, which is unusual in comparison to other rockets and the space shuttle. Because of this, the rocket could fly with two stages though instead of three, saving money. The room brakes out into applause. Sam Scimemi says, "Don’t be happy too early, there’s still a lot of work to do."  (NASA-Presskitt, PDF 3MB)

hq1hq2

The tension in the room dissolves. Former colleagues of Professor Jesco von Puttkamer stand up and shake the hands of the students and their supervisors. They are all NASA employees with many years of experience and positions with great responsibilities. Sam leads the team to a display case in which books, trophies, and working papers of Prof. von Puttkamer reside. Here, the award of the same name will be handed over to NASA. It’s a show of mutual respect, not regarding any political issues.

jvp

Sam continues the tour and accompanies the group to his office. Here they receive their certificates for participating in the NASA rover Challenge straight from the hands of the ISS director. This is a great honor for both sides, but most of all, an amazing birthday present for the team leader.

hq4

For the International Space Education Institute, this invitation, after the previous one to the Roscosmos Headquarters in 2007, meant the acceptance into international space travel circles.

Fotoseries:_NASA-Headquarters-DLR-office Washington

next event: US Science Festival, Washington E. Convention Center, Washington DC (USA)

 
Donation
Jetzt Spenden! Das Spendenformular wird von betterplace.org bereit gestellt.
Google transl.
Links
TV
TV
radio
cancel
SW
nasa-blog
moonbuggy
spacecamp
nasatv
nasaedge
esa
roscosmos
energia
olympics
novosti
ansari
xprize
vga
roncret
lux
russpaceweb