Swiss Review 4/2018

15 Swiss Review / July 2018 / No.4 Thomas Schildknecht, Director of the Zim- merwald Observatory, in front of the tele- scope that can locate small pieces of de- bris in outer space. Photos: Adrian Moser from Earth it is also extremely diffi- cult to steer objects so that they burn up in the atmosphere. Instead they are sent into a zone even further away from Earth, which is something akin to a cemetery in outer space. “There is no future in thismethod though,” says Schildknecht. “Who knows what we might need the space out there for one day.” India needs data from Berne The University of Berne has a tradition of research into debris in outer space. Schildknecht explains that this field was still regarded as the domain of “freaks” at the end of the 1980s. Those who worked in it gained a reputation for tarnishing the image of their own discipline. Schildknecht adds: “Space exploration had enjoyed an impecca- ble reputation until that point. Then people started highlighting the nega- tive impact on the space near Earth.” This field is becoming increasingly im- portant today, he says. “We are fortu- nate in Berne because not only canwe hunt for debris but we also have the capability to calculate orbits. That’s an almost unique combination.” Schildknecht and his teamare fre- quently in touch with the European Space Agency and colleagues in Rus- sia. And if India wants to launch com- munications satellites into outer space, its agencies use the data from the Uni- versity of Berne to prevent any colli- sions with fragments of debris. The Zimmerwald Observatory in- vests heavily. In 2013, it spent 700,000 Swiss francs on a new dome and tele- scope. The two latest domedbuildings cost the canton of Berne 820,000 francs. Around the same amount was spent on the new telescopes, the cost of which was largely met by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the University. How can such high spend- ing over a short space of time be justi- fied? Schildknecht says, “Berne is at the very forefront of space exploration. To remain there requires state-of-the- art technology and equipment. SIMON GSTEIGER IS A FREELANCE JOURNALIST IN BERNE Flagship in space exploration The Zimmerwald Observatory in the canton of Berne is a Swiss flagship in the field of space research. Switzerland has many other such facilities though. The Swiss Astronomy Society lists 46 observatories. In addition, there are also research institutes at various traditional universities and universities of applied sciences, such as those in Geneva and Zurich. The observatories perform various tasks. While the team in Zimmerwald hunts for debris in outer space, the observatory in Geneva conducts research into planets out- side our solar system. Astronomers working at the Eschenberg Observatory in Winterthur measure the position of asteroids near Earth. Their measure- ments provide data for calculating the orbits of celestial bodies and help to estimate potential impact risk to Earth. (SG)