“Space travel is like the air that we breath”

Moon missions and visions of the future: Walther Pelzer, board member of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and General Director of the German Space Agency at DLR, explains how space travel is indispensable with regard to our everyday lives. 

Walther Pelzer has managed the German Space Agency at DLR since 2018. This agency coordinates and controls German space activities on behalf of the German government and also represents Germany’s interests within international organisations involved in space travel, such as the European Space Agency (ESA). 

Germany’s role in a return to the moon is… 

…essential. The USA and its Artemis programme wouldn’t be able to fly to the moon without Germany. The European Service Module ESM in the Orion spacecraft ensures that the astronauts are supplied with oxygen and water. It governs the propulsion and electricity, regulates the temperature and serves as the service module. It was assembled in Bremen. This module’s significance is demonstrated by the stranded NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. A defect in the American service module of their CST-100 Starliner has resulted in a delay of many months to their return from the ISS, with a landing not planned until 2025. The original concept was for the two of them to spend six days at the space station. 

The most enthralling German space project is… 

…difficult to choose. There are many fascinating projects with German participation both within and beyond the ESA that I find incredibly exciting. The European space probe “Juice” is on course to Jupiter, for example. That’s where we want to search its moons for the building blocks of life. We’ll be seeking to close gaps in our knowledge concerning aspects of climate change via the “Earth Explorer” mission. Aspects such as the role played by clouds in the development of temperature. There are numerous other projects in which we are advancing science and research and seeking solutions to current issues. 

Space travel plays a significant part in our everyday lives, because… 

…space travel is like the air that we breath. You can’t see it, but it’s essential for life. We would revert to the last millennium if we were to dispense with space infrastructure. Communication, navigation and even weather reports are only the obvious benefits of space technology. Very few people are aware, however, that our power supply would be totally impossible nowadays without navigation satellites – in particular when it comes to feeding renewable energies into the power grid. Extremely precise time signals enable the fluctuating feeds of solar and wind energy to be efficiently managed and coordinated with conventional power stations and electricity storage facilities. Our power grid would soon collapse without the time synchronisation provided by navigation satellites. These are only a few examples of the impact of space travel in our everyday lives.  

Global partnerships in space travel are… 

…very expedient. Space travel is firstly expensive. The cost of space projects can be spread across numerous countries. There is also no single nation in this world that is world-class in every technology. We can be better, quicker and more innovative by sharing our knowledge. And thirdly, space travel diplomacy is playing an increasingly important part in politics. Space travel enables countries to collaborate in a specific area and increase the channels for dialogue that would otherwise be impossible. I believe for instance that the ISS is a political masterpiece, because it demonstrates what we humans can achieve when we collaborate in a constructive manner.