50 years of space exploration at the University of Bern

Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) This year, the University of Bern celebrates 50 years of space exploration. Several dozen Bernese instruments flew on board space probes, to explore the formation of solar systems and the origin of life. One of them, the Bernese solar sail, was deployed in the course of the first landing on the Moon. At the "Researchers' night" on 16 September, an exhibition will present the highlights of Bernese space exploration. The space exploration at the University of Bern, started on 27 October 1967 with a test flight of the Zenith rocket by Contraves. With scientific instruments on board, it was to explore the upper atmosphere (80-500 kilometres above the Earth's surface). The measurement instruments had to be as small as possible and very robust, to survive the rocket launch, and function reliably in space in spite of adverse conditions.