‘Astro-Alex’ visits the AWI

GSTDTAP > 资源环境科学

	‘Astro-Alex’ visits the AWI
	admin
	2019-06-14
发布年	2019
语种	英语
国家	德国
领域	资源环境
正文(英文)	Astronaut Alexander Gerst pays a visit to his alma mater and exchanges notes with AWI researchers [14. June 2019] Fascinating insights and a friendly exchange: Geophysicist and astronaut Alexander Gerst recently paid a visit to his alma mater, the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). Before an audience of ca. 200 members of staff, he gave an in-house talk on his work as ‘astro-Alex’ and exchanged ideas with the researchers in attendance. During his visit, Alexander Gerst also toured the AWI laboratories. (Photo: Alfred Wegener Institute / Kerstin Rolfes) (Photo: Alfred-Wegener-Institut / Kerstin Rolfes) In 2001, long before he became ‘astro-Alex’, Gerst took part in a Polarstern expedition as a Geophysics student. Accordingly, he used his visit to the AWI to take a guided tour of the laboratories, and to speak with a number of researchers, including geophysicist Karsten Gohl, who organised the event. Gerst then gave an internal talk for the AWI staff, followed by a discussion of his experiences as an astronaut: “I’m delighted to be here, and I consider this to be a discussion among colleagues. For me personally, the AWI feels like my homeport, because it’s where my expedition career began. It’s an honour to know that even the Polarstern and the Neumayer Station III are watching this broadcast.” Living and working in space – a topic that also captured the interest of the AWI staff, more than 200 of whom attended the talk. Another 300 at the AWI facilities in Potsdam, Sylt and Helgoland joined in via live broadcast, as did researchers on board the icebreaker Polarstern and at the Neumayer Station III. From the depths of the Arctic Ocean to space: the whale vertebra. (Photo: Alfred Wegener Institute / Yves Nowak) (Photo: Alfred-Wegener-Institut / Yves Nowak) In his moving talk, Gerst also reported on his observations of our ecosystem from space: “It is impressive and at the same time shocking that you can see from orbit how our glaciers continue to melt away.” Further, ‘astro-Alex’ brought with him a truly unique gift for the AWI: a whale bone from space. He had taken the bone with him to the ISS on behalf of the Alfred Wegener Institute and used his visit to return it. The whale vertebra hails from the Arctic Ocean, where, during a routine dive with an ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle), AWI researchers found it buried in the sediment at a depth of over 1,000 metres. Gerst took the bone with him on the ISS as a memento from the AWI. The vertebra, which travelled to space as an officially listed ‘flight item’ – and is therefore accompanied by a certificate confirming its special status – will now once again become the property of the institute.
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来源平台	Alfred Wegener Institute
文献类型	新闻
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.173/C666/handle/2XK7JSWQ/133735
专题	资源环境科学
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	admin. ‘Astro-Alex’ visits the AWI. 2019.