The Bremen site of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has been the home of the Institute of Space Systems since 2007. The institute’s work includes analysing and evaluating complex spaceflight systems for their technological, economical and socio-political viability. It develops concepts for innovative space missions with high visibility at national and international level. Scientific, commercial and safety-related applications supported by spaceflight are developed and converted into collaborative projects with research and industry.
A symbiotic community of bacteria, tomatoes and single-celled algae, synthetic urine and a satellite that simulates the gravity of the Moon or Mars by rotating around its axis – these elements make up the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und- Raumfahrt; DLR) Eu:CROPIS (Euglena and Combined Regenerative Organic-Food Production in Space) mission.
Lucie Poulet said goodbye to the outside world for four months when the door closed behind her on 28 March 2014; the scientist from DLR is participating as a crewmember in a Mars simulation run by the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
For ten days, 74 scientists and tourists were trapped in the Antarctic on board the Russian Akademik Shokalskiy research vessel. Strong winds had driven ice floes into a bay, blocking the ship's advancement.