German astronaut goes to space station in autumn في

Matthias Maurer is scheduled to be the next German to travel to the International Space Station in October. It won’t start with a Russian Soyuz craft, but with a SpaceX spaceship. The technology from Bremen will also orbit the moon in the fall.

astronaut Matthias Maurer is supposed to go to the space station on October 23 IS Puts. His mission is expected to last until 12/13. Last April, Walther Pelzer, a board member of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne, said on Wednesday. Maurer is the first German to use the “Crew Dragon” spaceship from SpaceX Go to the International Space Station. “We’re very, very excited about this assignment,” Belzer said. “He’s already had an amazing array of different experiences with him.”

Astronaut Matthias Maurer is in a training module at the European Astronaut Center: he is the oldest German ever to travel on a first mission to space. (Source: Felix Hörhager / dpa)

If all goes according to plan, Maurer will be the 12th German in space after being launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida – and the fourth German on the International Space Station. He might also go out to space on an external mission. At the age of 51, Maurer will be the oldest German astronaut on first flight.

Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla, chief executive of the DLR, said Maurer should conduct about 35 trials. The experiments have been proposed from Germany and can be assigned to a wide range of disciplines, such as medicine, biology, physics and materials science.

Belzer was positive about the prospects for German-American cooperation in The space Under the new US administration Joe Biden. The Biden government is focusing on the added value of space travel for people on Earth. “This means, in our view, that there is a stronger focus on the topic of Earth observation.” In this area in particular, Germany and Europe have good projects to offer. “It is against this background that we see the development very positively,” Belzer said.

The next trip to the moon will follow in 2024

In addition, there is a commitment to the American “Artemis” moon program. US space agency NASA He wants to install an outpost with a Gateway station that must orbit the moon. From there, plans could begin for missions to the Moon, but also to Mars.

Artemis I, Orion’s first unmanned aerial vehicle test flight with a European service unit, is scheduled for the end of this year. Later, as part of “Artemis II”, the first astronauts will fly around the moon and return to Earth. Artemis 3 is supposed to land on the moon with astronauts by 2024. However, Belzer said the target date for 2024 is likely to be pushed back a bit.

The European Aerospace Group recently received an order to build three additional service units for the Orion spacecraft. Belzer emphasized that the European Service Unit would be a key element of “Artemis” and that Germany’s role was particularly important here. “Today I received that it is now official that the first service unit be called ‘Bremen’.” This is due to the fact that the unit was largely developed at Airbus in Bremen. This means that “Germany with Bremen will go to the moon in November.”