Everything Exploration

Once a month, space pioneer Carsten Borowy shares his knowledge about space. Episode 15 is about our Earth's closest neigbour: Venus.

At OHB, Venus has been in vogue not only since the recent discovery of phosphine in its atmosphere. In a recently completed in-house study, a concept was developed together with scientists from various universities to bring measuring instruments into the planet's atmosphere and conduct an in-situ search for traces of life.

Have Uranus and Neptune ever been visited by a space probe? How long does it take to go there? And is it true that it rains diamonds on the ice giants? Part 4 of our series on the exploration of the solar system.

What do we know about the gas giants? Is it even possible to land on their surface? And does the asteroid belt pose a threat? Part 3 of our series on the exploration of the solar system.

Missions to Venus are technically challenging. To counter heat and pressure, both NASA and OHB are working on concepts based on rather unusual ideas. While NASA plans to explore Earth's nearest neighboring planet with a mechanical rover, OHB is pressing ahead with the development of an atmospheric mission.

Dr Pascale Ehrenfreund, astrobiologist and CEO of the German Aerospace Center, explains why missions to Venus deepen our knowledge about Earth and advance the development of new technologies.

Missions to Venus are extremely challenging. Dr. Rolf Janovsky, head of pre-development at OHB, explains how traces of life could nevertheless be searched for in the planet's atmosphere.

Venus may have had a mild climate in the past. Astrophysicist Dr. Michael Joseph Way of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center talks about Venus' climate history and the need for further surface missions.

The last European mission to Venus improved our understanding of the greenhouse effect on Earth. Jan Wörner, ESA Director General, is convinced that further missions to Venus would also have a direct benefit for Earth.

At first glance, Venus is a planet with hostile conditions. Nevertheless, life could exist on the planet, says Dr. Klaus Slenzka, Head of the Life Sciences Department at OHB.

Marco Fuchs, CEO of OHB, on the benefits of a Venus mission.

Do little green men really live on Mars? And why were there no astronauts there yet? Can we also fly to Venus? Part 2 of our series on the exploration of the solar system.

Mark Fittock, project manager for the asteroid defense mission Hera, has agreed to answer some of the open questions about asteroids.

Our solar system consists of eight planets. So far, humans have visited only one of them - the Earth. Why do we not explore Mercury? Or even the Sun? Part 1 of our series on the exploration of the solar system.

Marco Fuchs, CEO of OHB, on the moon and why it is an exciting destination for scientific missions.

Research into and protection from asteroids are global tasks. For this reason, OHB has been supporting Asteroid Day for several years, which always takes place on June 30.

The U.S. aim to return people to the Moon by 2024. OHB is part of the Lunar Gateway project, which will provide humankind with a waypoint in lunar orbit.

Marco Fuchs, CEO of OHB, on OHB's contribution to the next Israeli lunar mission.

Almost 50 years after the first manned Moon landing, the former ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter explains in an interview how the time in space changed his view on Earth and why it is time to bring mankind back to the Moon.

When the InSight probe landed safely on Mars in the Elysium Planitia plain at 20:52:59 Central European Time on November 26, 2018, the OHB staff were among those waiting with baited breaths. This is because OHB is also keeping a close eye on the Red Planet and will soon be sending the results of its own expertise on the ExoMars mission’s journey to Mars. This marks the beginning of a particularly exciting time for two OHB engineers. Mark Fittock and Georgios Tsakyridis had already been involved in the Mars Mole for the InSight mission and are now keeping their fingers crossed for the OHB team working on ExoMars.

“The meteor that exploded over Chelyabinsk was a wake-up call,” says Zhu Qing-Yin of the University of California. He has performed chemical analyses of the fragments of the celestial stone which exploded over the Russian city in February 2013. “If humanity is to avoid the fate that befell the dinosaurs, the results of these analyses must be examined very carefully.”

A conversation about astronomy, signals from outer space – and why basic research is good for the economy and tourism. We. Create. Space.

OHB began pursuing the NewSpace approach more than 20 years ago. It had its big breakthrough with the concept of building satellites for constellations in a significantly smaller size. Dr Fritz Merkle, member of the Management Board of OHB SE, explains in an interview with OHB Head of Communications Günther Hörbst where the company has come from and where it is heading.

Why the ExoMars project is pursuing this question and what this means for humanity even if there is no such thing as little green men. An interview with Dr. Andreas Winkler from OHB System AG

Humanity’s age-old dream of visiting the closest solar systems outside our own will soon be in reach. Within just a few decades, nanosatellites will be taking photos of Alpha Centauri. Interview with Fritz Merkle, a member of the Management Board of space and technology group OHB SE.