Radom Wachtberg
The Radom Wachtberg is a radar dome in Wachtberg , a municipality in the North Rhine-Westphalian Rhein-Sieg district near Bonn . It serves as a weather protection cover for a radar system. The entire large-scale radar system is officially known as the TIRA ( T racking and I maging Ra dar) space observation radar and is a research radar from Fraunhofer FHR .
Technical specifications
The radome has a diameter of 47.5 meters (up to 2014: 49 meters) and a height of 54.5 meters (as of 2014). The rotating and swiveling parabolic mirror inside has a diameter of 34 meters and weighs 240 tons. A complete rotation of the mirror in azimuth is possible in just 15 seconds, i.e. with an angular speed of 24 ° / s.
task
The radar system originally served as an experimental system for military research. The aim was initially to be able to detect ascending ICBMs at an early stage. Radar methods were later developed to track and map space objects in general. Since the end of the Cold War , civil use has also been sought. Currently, the facility is mainly used to observe near-earth satellites , orbital space debris and to support space missions. For example, TIRA was used for the re -entries of the German X-ray satellite ROSAT and the Russian Mars probe Phobos-Grunt .
The telescope is part of the ESA European Coordination Group on Space Debris , which is building a network of European telescopes for civil and military observation of the near-earth orbit.
history
The Society for the Promotion of Astrophysical Research, which was founded to establish the radar, was entered in the register of associations on December 9, 1955, and in 1957 founded the Research Institute for High Frequency Physics (FHP). Construction of the radome began in 1965. Commissioning and first experiments took place in 1970. The first satellite survey was carried out in 1973. The radome belonged to the FGAN , which was dissolved in 2009 and then transformed into an organization within the Fraunhofer Institute .
From autumn 2010 to autumn 2011, the TIRA system was extensively modernized: The drive control was renewed and a new high-performance transmitter was installed. In the course of 2014, the radome was completely renewed and got a slightly smaller size than before.
particularities
- With a horizontal rotation speed of 24 degrees per second, the antenna is the fastest of its size in the world.
- With a resolution of 6.3 centimeters, the quality of the radar images of space objects is the highest in the world (as far as publicly known).
See also
- GRAVES (facility for the same purpose in France)
literature
- Ursel and Jürgen Zänker: Building in Bonn room 49–69. Attempt to take stock . In: Landschaftsverband Rheinland (Hrsg.): Art and antiquity on the Rhine . Guide to the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn . No. 21 . Rheinland-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1969, p. 200/201 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Wachtberg's landmark is shrinking , General-Anzeiger , September 1, 2014
- ↑ TIRA space observation radar ( Memento of the original from July 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Fraunhofer FHR website. Retrieved August 22, 2012
- ↑ http://www.esa.int/esapub/bulletin/bulletin133/bul133f_klinkrad.pdf
- ↑ History of the institute ( Memento of the original dated May 7, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Fraunhofer FHR website. Retrieved August 22, 2012
Coordinates: 50 ° 37 ′ 0 ″ N , 7 ° 7 ′ 47 ″ E