The design study for a European Stratospheric Balloon Observatory (ESBO-DS) is a research project designed to pave the way for an astronomical observatory based on stratospheric balloons. In order to avoid the atmospheric layers that are disturbing for astronomical applications, the telescopes are to be brought into the stratosphere by balloon-based gondolas. As a pilot project, ESBO-DS is concerned with the development and construction of a prototype gondola, a telescope (STUDIO) and a strategy for the long-term construction and operation of the observatory.
The working groups of the small satellite program develop, build, integrate, qualify and operate small satellite systems. In addition, they develop new technologies for space systems and test them under space conditions. This also includes the development and expansion of the necessary infrastructure for the construction, qualification and operation of satellites. The University of Stuttgart's first small satellite is Flying Laptop with a mass of 110 kg, which has been operated successfully by our control center at the University of Stuttgart since July 2017.
The dust astronomy working group is headed and developed by PD Ralf Srama and builds and operates instruments for the detection and investigation of interplanetary and interstellar dust. They also develop models to research the formation and distribution of dust in space.
The space robotics group develops rover systems for the exploration of planetary surfaces. The focus here is on the development of rover chassis systems and technologies that can be used under demanding conditions on planetary surfaces.
The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a highly modified Boeing 747 SP with a 2.7-meter reflector telescope developed and manufactured in Germany in the fuselage, was a joint project of NASA and DLR and was operationally managed and implemented for the German side by the German SOFIA Institute (DSI) at the IRS of the University of Stuttgart. In twelve years of operation, mainly from Palmdale in California and from various locations in the southern hemisphere, astronomical data in the infrared wavelength range amounting to several thousand hours of observation were recorded with various specialized scientific instruments. To date, only some of this data has been published in 343 peer-reviewed publications (as of 12/2022). The SOFIA Data Center (SDC) project aims to process this data using state-of-the-art methods and make it available to the astronomical community at home and abroad for further research in a public archive. This is all the more important as no other observatories will be available in this wavelength range in the next few years.
Contact
Sabine Klinkner
Prof. Dr.-Ing.Professor of satellite technology, Deputy Director