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The Week in Germany: Business, Technology and the Environment February 29, 2008 Space Exploration Serves Science, Basic Human Curiosity, say European Experts
In this special feature, The Week in Germany presents excerpts from a recent broadcast of “Capital Cities”, Deutsche Welle’s transatlantic talk program that connects leading minds in Berlin and Washington to discuss the issues of the day. With the European Columbus Space Lab attached to the International Space Station and the German astronaut, Hans Schlegel, talking live form space with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Europe and Germany are clearly committed to play a larger in role in space. But with the landing on the moon almost 40 years ago and a permanent platform in space nearly completed, what comes next? The moon, again? And then off to Mars? And what about the costs and current scientific spin-offs of space exploration? “Capital Cities” took a closer look at all these questions from both sides of the Atlantic: in Washington with Jesco von Puttkamer, a German-American manager at NASA and former team member of the Apollo program under Wernher von Braun, and Paul Lockhardt, NASA astronaut, and now manager of the next generation of space vehicles. In Berlin, we were joined by Frank Pohlemann, Manager at Astrium- EADS, the German firm which built the Columbus Space Lab, and Thomas Reiter, former ESA astronaut and now member of the Board of the German air & space agency, DLR. In Washington the host was Rüdiger Lentz and in Berlin, Melinda Crane. Moderator : When the European space lab “Columbus” went into operation , what was your feeling as you watched that happen? Thomas Reiter: Well, I had the chance for the first time in my life to experience a launch of a shuttle from the outside. A very symbolic moment for Europe and, I think, also for the international space community to have a growing space station which got a little bit more international and now the way is paved for more science to do in orbit. Moderator: The completion of the ISS should have been finished by 2005. Now it is 2010 because of two tragic Shuttle accidents. Are we back on track in completing the ISS? Paul Lockhardt: Oh, very much so. In a program such as this one you are always going to have setbacks of some sort. I think the important aspect of it is that in a very cooperative manner all of the different agencies that represent the components of the International Space Station, have laid a plan forward and we are executing that plan now and we are back on track to complete the ISS very soon. Moderator: What about the shuttle as a means of transportation? Is it still a reliable workhorse which we have to use until it is phased out in 2010? Paul Lockhardt: It is not just a workhorse; it is a wonderful flying machine. The design of it is magnificent. It has proven itself over and over again. It is a difficult flying machine. Flying in space just a difficult endeavor period. Moderator: … and a risky one… Paul Lockhardt: … very risky! But it is something that we have to do for ourselves and for our future. But is the Shuttle necessary to complete the International Space Station? Absolutely. It has got the right size capacity to lift up the rest of the components that are going to be necessary. Moderator: Let’s go back to the past for a moment, and look into the most ambitious program ever which was the landing on the moon .That time in the past, it looks like the people were very enthusiastic about space programs and manned space flight. Has that toned down and how come? Jesco von Puttkamer: I think that the public attractiveness of manned space flight has diminished tremendously since those early years. And don’t forget, in the 60’s we were under tremendous pressure of the Cold War, it was a political race in space. That has ended. Today we are not competing with any nation in a political sense. There is no interest in being the first on the moon or on Mars anymore. Moderator: Does that mean that NASA and the world need a new challenge. What could that challenge be? Jesco von Puttkamer: Absolutely. Today we need another rationale, we need science, we need research, we need to understand that we do need new frontiers. Moderator: And the experiments that will be done in the Columbus laboratory, what are you expecting or hoping for from those? Thomas Reiter: The Columbus is a laboratory which enables us to do research in a very high variety of scientific disciplines. It ranges from material sciences to human sciences, biology, technology and much more. I think we cannot expect to find huge parts of the puzzle immediately in these different areas of research, but any contribution the research in micro-gravity can make is quite important. Moderator: It looks like it is all about partnership in space at the moment. But is that partnership working and is it essential to make progress in space? Paul Lockhardt: Well, I think, the STS-122 mission with Columbus is a good example of the partnership and why it is working. Each of the crew, international in scope, had to learn each other’s trades and their skills. And so, as members have to adjust to living in space, other partners come up, meet their needs and allow new rookies in space to learn and adapt and then move on and complete their skills. And that is a great example of international cooperation in training. And that shows why it is necessary to do that. Moderator: What about the Russians? We have heard before that in the Cold War it was all about the space race and now it seems all to be about partnership and cooperation? Did you experience that change yourself? Paul Lockhardt: Well, there was a defining moment in my flight when I sat down in orbit on a special day and found out that the Russian Commander of Expedition V at that time had once been a military officer flying for the Soviet forces on one side of the inter-German border and I had been a US-fighter pilot on the other side. So, it told me what a great change had happened and that cooperation in space is to build bridges between nations. Moderator: Private enterprise, commercialization – topics we haven’t been talking about yet. Why is space flight still a governmental undertaking on both sides of the Atlantic, and why doesn’t the commercial side take very much interest in space flight? Jesco von Puttkamer: It is because of the cost and risk involved. Private investors are hesitant to put their money into a program which is at an early stage of development, where every launch has a certain risk attached to it. Moderator: Looking ahead at some of the places and ways we want to go in the space program, the German government is now talking about sending a missile to the moon. Is that a useful endeavor? What would the benefits be? Frank Pohlemann: It is clearly spelled out that the benefits will be
scientific; it will be a very useful application of space technologies,
such as observation technologies that have already been developed in Germany.
Of course, it is also a very important first step in setting up future
programs. The idea is that Germany would show its ability to lead more
ambitious missions. Moderator: ….but is that really something we can expect: tourism into space? Jesco von Puttkamer: Most certainly. But I think this will not be a NASA operation. It will come with global commercial enterprises offering this special transportation capability. Moderator: Thomas Reiter once said “One should shoot politicians up into space and let them look down on our precious earth, so they could learn how important it is to keep it alive.” Is that an experience you had when you flew into space? Paul Lockhardt: Absolutely. Each person who flies in space, I think,
has several defining moments and I had three or four. And most of those
were when you have a chance to look down out of the blackness of space
and see the blues and the browns and the greens of earth and you start
to realize how magnificent the place is that we live on.
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