Open House in DLR (Detusche Luft- und Raumfarth)

DLR (Deutsche Luft- und Raumfarth) is the German centre for aerospace-, energy- and transport research, with the headquarters located in Köln. The research in the aerospace industry is mainly aimed to improve the future of aircaft propulsion and to improve our knowledge of space. A lot of DLR:s time and resources are placed to improve the efficiency of air transport, goals which are set up by the European Union, e.g. reduce the cost of air transport by 30%. 

The transport- and energy research is mainly aimed on renenewable and green solutions such as solar and wind-energy in the energy research sector. 

Every second year DLR open up the doors for the public to display their research. This area is my main area of study which is why I also took time to visit DLR this day.

The DLR area in Köln, it is located near to the Köln/Bonn-airport.

Philae is the name of the lander which was the first human built device to land on a comet. One can say that this event has put DLR on the map. The landing was managed November 2014 and was conducted by ESA (European Space Agency, which is partly funded by DLR) together with DLR.

This is a scale model of the comet on which Philae landed on, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

I mention Philae because the main control centrum of Philae is located in Köln.

Inside the Philae control centrum.

The jet engine test facility

Inside the jet engine test facility

Test station of the jet engines

DLR has on of the fastest wind tunnels in the world. It's called H2K and can be runned up to Mach 11.2.

The wind tunnel test section. Tests can be conducted for around 30 seconds. In order to prevent unwanted physical phenomenons at these speeds (up to Mach 11.2) the air is heated before tests to around 800 degrees.

The bulding of European Astronaut Centre. The astronauts are prepared for their missions on many different locations. The basic training program is conducted in Köln and lasts 16 months.

Yepp that is Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, you're seeing in front of the main entrance of ESA.

All flags of the ESA-member states (Sweden included).

It can't be seen on the picture but this is the main pool where the future astronauts are trained.

Full scale modules used for astronaut education.

Some hidden pictures on Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and Yuri Gagarin in one of the modules.

It was a beautiful way home, with the Kölner Dom in the background.