Did you know that a higher proportion of people in Bremen work in the aerospace sector than anywhere else in Germany? In fact, the industry has a long tradition in the city. The International Astronautical Congress (IAC), the world’s largest and most important space exploration conference, is being held in Bremen for the second time in 2018.
An ideal reason to celebrate, under the banner of ‘Sternstunden 2018’ – Bremen Space Year. Visitors to Bremen can look forward to over 50 events and experiences, including rare and at times exclusive glimpses behind the scenes of aerospace companies. How about a trip to the ISS international space station? No problem, as the Columbus module, the European contribution to the ISS, was assembled in Bremen. As part of a space tour at Airbus, visitors can walk around a replica of the station, find out lots of fascinating facts about life in space, and watch the scientists at work as they build rocket stages.
It is also possible to visit the Bremen Drop Tower, which contains a 146-metre-high tube where experiments in zero-gravity conditions are carried out. A clearly presented guided tour explains to visitors what sort of work the Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) is doing in the drop tower, and they can also discover the effects of zero gravity at first hand by means of some simple experiments.
Meanwhile, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is opening its doors to the public for the very first time – with fascinating insights guaranteed. Find out why we want to grow tomatoes on the moon and on Mars, how landing vehicles are able to touch down on an asteroid and how ships can be monitored from outer space. All of these questions will be answered with reference to the DLR’s latest projects.
BTZ: Bremen Space Tour
The highlight of the year’s events will be the Public Day on 5 October during the IAC International Astronautical Congress, the meeting place for all the key players on the global space exploration scene. The Public Day offers visitors a wide-ranging programme of talks as well as an exhibition showing the extent to which aerospace technology affects our daily lives.
During the Bremen Space Year, visitors will have a unique chance to get a look behind the scenes of aerospace companies and institutions. The complete program is available at the website of the 69th International Astronautical Congress.
For more information about available guided space tours, please visit Bremen Tourism – Space Tour and Bremen Tourism – Airbus.
The city of Bremen offers information about Sternstunden 2018 at Bremen.eu – Aerospace Year.
For further information on Bremen, please visit Bremen Tourism.
You may also like:
Bremen – From medieval houses to Weser Renaissance architecture
Destination Germany: Travel Resources
Of peat barges, pirate ships and container terminals – Maritime Bremen
Stuttgart for Art Lovers: From Knights to Hawaii
Architecture in Cologne