* Astronomy

The launch of the German Aerospace Centre (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) TEXUS 47 rocket on 29 November 2009 at 10:00 from Esrange in Kiruna, northern Sweden, and the successful recovery of its payload was the auspicious conclusion of this years TEXUS (Technologische Experimente unter Schwerelosigkeit technological experiments under weightless conditions) research programme. In the course of its parabolic trajectory, the VSB-30 rocket reached an altitude of 264 kilometres, and zero gravity conditions were experienced for about six and a half minutes. Scientists from research institutes and industry exploited these conditions to carry out materials science and biology experiments. The TEXUS 46 rocket had flown just seven days earlier, in a collaboration between DLR, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA).

Read more