Horst Löb

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Horst Wolfgang Josef Adam Löb ( Horst W. Loeb , born September 14, 1932 in Komotau ; † October 18, 2016 in Gießen ) was a German physicist who was known as a university lecturer primarily for his work in the field of electric space propulsion .

life and work

Horst Löb was born on September 14, 1932 in Komotau in Czechoslovakia . In the course of the annexation of the Sudetenland to the German Reich , he became a German citizen in 1938. After the Second World War , the family came to Gießen via a refugee camp in East Germany , where Löb passed his Abitur exam in 1952 and began studying physics . In July 1957 he obtained his diploma and began his doctoral studies. His dissertation from May 1960 dealt with radio frequency ion sources. Considerations that the ion current from the radio frequency ion source could generate enough thrust for use as an ion thruster were published in the journal Astronautica Acta in 1962 and were the subject of his first lecture at the 15th International Astronautical Congress in Vienna in 1964. Since that year Löbs research was funded by the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology . Löb received his habilitation in June 1967 with a treatise on radio frequency ion thrusters.

Horst Löb has spent his entire professional life at the I. Physics Institute of the University of Giessen. In June 1970 he became "Scientific Councilor and Professor as Head of Department" of the newly established working group "Plasma Physics and Electric Space Propulsion". Also in 1970 the space simulation tank "Jumbo" with a volume of 30 m³ was put into operation and a functional model of the radio frequency ion engine "RIT-10" with a diameter of 10 cm was completed. This also marked the beginning of an intensive collaboration between the institute and the space industry, which would continue after Löb's death. Milestones were the flight tests of the RIT-10 on the EURECA mission in 1992 and the rescue of the satellite from the ARTEMIS mission in 2002. After his retirement in September 1997, Löb continued to work on the development of the radio frequency ion thruster and on studies of its possible applications .

In addition to research and teaching, Löb was also active in academic self-administration: for several years as a member of the Senate and twice as dean of the physics department. In September 1997 he retired.

Honors

For his work, Löb was awarded the “Hermann Oberth Medal” of the International Board of Space Promotion (June 2005) and the “Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Electric Propulsion” from the Electric Rocket Propulsion Society , later renamed the Stuhlinger Medal (October 2005), honored. In May 2009 he received the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Löb was married to Krystyna Lisicka-Löb and had a daughter. He died on October 18, 2016 in Giessen.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ memorial page by Horst Löb. In: Mourning Portal. Gießener Anzeiger, November 12, 2016, accessed on November 14, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Peter J. Klar, Hans J. Leiter, Karl-Heinz Schartner: Obituary for Horst W. Löb . In: Physics Journal . tape 16 , no. 2 , 2017, p. 49 .
  3. ↑ Pioneer of ion thruster development. In: Giessener Allgemeine Zeitung. April 20, 2009, accessed October 31, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Löb, Horst
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Löb, Horst Wolfgang Josef Adam (full name); Loeb, Horst W.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German physicist
DATE OF BIRTH September 14, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Chomutov
DATE OF DEATH October 18, 2016
Place of death to water