The Earth

Manfred Gottwald studied astronomy and physics at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. His PhD was received from the Technical University Munich. In 1991 he moved to the German Aerospace Center (DLR). There the solar system and particularly our home planet Earth became his research fields. Since 2012, when the first digital elevation model data from the TanDEM-X mission, a twin radar X-band configuration operated and controlled by DLR, became available, he is engaged in the study of terrestrial impact structures. The digital elevation model allowed, for the first time, to publish a topographic atlas of all impacts still existing on Earth. In September 2018 he retired from DLR but continues work in the field of terrestrial impact structures. His numerous publications in the form of lectures, articles, and books, cater to both the scientific community and the interested public, covering the entire universe - from its distant edge to the surface of our home planet.

Earth Views - From Fiction to Reality.- Close to Space - Every Beginning is Difficult.- Ballistic Flights - Away from Earth.- Unmanned Low Earth Orbit - Under Constant Observation.- Manned Low Earth Orbit - Beautiful Prospects.- Geostationary Orbit - A View of the Whole.- Unmanned Moon Missions - From Cosmic Proximity.- Manned Moon Missions - Men on the Moon.- Inner Lagrange Point - In Step around the Sun.- Interplanetary Travel - Visits to Our Cosmic Neighborhood.