A breakthrough in German-US collaboration for space-based research could be on the cards at ILA this week as NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver flies in from Washington DC for talks with the US space agency's German counterpart, DLR.
Garver arrives in Berlin today and DLR chairman Johann-Dietrich Wörner says he senses a shift in the political wind since Barack Obama moved into the White House, and is optimistic that he and Garver will soon be announcing a new era of joint projects.
NASA-DLR efforts are likely to be focused on Earth observation technologies - including DLR's strong suit of space-based radar - as well as composite materials, robotics and laser communications, says Wörner, who stresses that technologies geared to battling climate change are a priority.
"Fortunately we are well beyond the Cold War, when everything that mattered was higher-faster-farther," he says.
He adds that an extension of the contract for NASA-DLR co-operation on the Grace earth gravitational field measurement satellite programme has already been agreed. Wörner says that spacecraft is returning hugely useful data.
DLR is also pursuing partnerships with other nations to develop its capabilities in optical observation of the Earth, to complement its radar technologies. And, says Wörner, DLR is keen to develop the European Space Agency and DLR strategies for manned spaceflight. He says he and Garver will also be discussing manned flight issues. Wörner insists that manned missions are going to remain important in an increasingly robotic age.
However, he says, transport to space of human crews is entering an interesting period with the imminent retirement of NASA's Space Shuttle fleet. Any DLR manned flight activity will probably be linked to Russian flights, he says, but looking forward there is cause to be encouraged by last week's successful flight to orbit from Cape Canaveral of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, which is being designed to orbit SpaceX's Dragon capsule in both cargo- and crew-carrying versions.
Source: Flight Daily News
