45° 59' 00.9" N 7° 47' 00.6" E
Flying high in Switzerland:
A journey into space
The Swiss aren’t only good at making cheese, cowbells and expensive watches. From Bern to Geneva, they’re developing instruments that search for life on distant moons. But that’s not all: high up in the Swiss Alps, astronomers are peering into the universe to discover the origins of space and time.
The fantastic journey begins at the University of Bern. Students sit outside, professors and postgraduates stroll past the main building in the mild October air. It’s a beautiful day in Switzerland and the large, yellow sun shines as if it were the only star in the universe.
A glass door in the Physics Institute leads to the department for Space Research and Planetary Sciences. Welcome to the Center for Space and Habitability.
Posters of rockets and UFOs decorate the lobby. Satellites buzz around purple moons and small figures with antennas on their heads march across crater landscapes. But the questions the posters raise are serious. Is there a second Earth? Are there planets out there made of more than gases and mud, and might they have an atmosphere?
In Switzerland, space researchers are addressing such questions with scientific rigour and precision. So, anyone who mainly associates the small, mountainous country mainly with cheese, cows and expensive watches should think again!
Back in the 1960s, Bern University developed the solar sail for the Apollo mission right here in the Physics Institute, contributing to the moon landing. Many Bern-made instruments and measuring devices are circling in orbit or racing through our solar system with a space probe. In 1995, two Swiss astronomers also detected the first exoplanet – the discovery of 51 Pegasi b is regarded as an astronomical milestone.
Bern-built mass spectrometers have flown to distant comets to analyse their atmosphere. Other instruments from the Bern lab have flown to Jupiter and the Sun. Scan the list of space missions the Swiss have been involved in and you’ll almost leave the ground yourself.
The questions are big ones. How did the universe come into being? How did life on Earth arise?
They’ve been to Mars and to Venus, have analysed space plasmas. Space probes have ventured all the way to Jupiter’s icy moons with Bern’s precision instruments on board – to search for traces of life in the deep oceans of Ganymede, Kallisto and Europa.
The questions are big ones. How did the universe come into being? How did life on Earth arise? A fascinating journey. And definitely the most daring one we earthlings have ever participated in.
The current research programme is called PlanetS. Its purpose is to discover what planets are composed of and whether life could exist there. In order to find out, astronomers are gathering rock samples and data from distant asteroids, comets and meteorites. Do any of these distant objects have a biosignature? If so, what is it?
Nikita Boeren and Peter Keresztes Schmidt are at the Institute of Exact Science this morning. The doctoral students of physics and astrochemistry occupy themselves full-time with the stars, and are as familiar with the basics of astronomy as others are with the price of butter at the supermarket. They’re also following a long tradition, as no lesser man than Albert Einstein once lectured at this university.
Einstein spent his ‘happy Bernese years’ in Switzerland from 1902 to 1909. In the miracle year of 1905, also in Bern, he developed his theory of relativity. As a professor, he began teaching here in 1908. His first class started at 7 a.m. and was entitled ‘Molecular Theory of Heat’. Three students initially attended his lectures, but soon their number dwindled down to one. Einstein was no pop star of physics in those days, but rather an eccentric who drew funny circles on the chalkboard.
Today, an elevator takes the young astronomers up to the first floor. ‘Welcome to our office’, says Peter Keresztes Schmidt. Delicate milling cutters, pliers, tweezers lie scattered on the tables. Behind curtains, there’s a clean room with a silvery unit and across from it, a microbiological safety workbench. Instruments for future space flights are built in this Swiss space lab.
Gold-plated mass spectrometers will accompany a NASA mission to the moon in a few years. Once there, a laser beam will pulverise rock samples, after which the ionised fragments will be separated in the spectrometer according to their atomic mass so that researchers can determine the chemical composition of the rock. Keresztes Schmidt explains: ‘This method allows us to determine on site which elements are present. Aluminium, iron, perhaps other substances as well. It’s important to know in case we want to establish a presence on the moon.’
A presence?
‘Yes, a space station, for instance, from which to travel on to Mars.’
Is there a second Earth? Are there planets out there that have an atmosphere?
Nikita Boeren focusses on destinations much further afield. She works with NASA experts to develop instruments for studying organic molecules and amino acids on Jupiter and Saturn’s icy moons. ‘I think we’ll find out a lot more about the origin of life’, she says. ‘It’s a fascinating task!’
The jumble of technical gear in the space lab would have astounded even Gyro Gearloose.
After lunch we are joined by Martin Rubin. The planetary scientist and comet expert was involved with the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission in which mass spectrometers and pressure sensors orbited the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The Swiss precision sensors on board the space probe were meant to analyse the gases and ice particles the comet released so as to unravel the mystery of how planets are formed.
Rubin says: ‘The comet is 4.5 billion years old, but its hydrogen and helium molecules date back to the Big Bang, which took place 13.8 billion years ago. Comets are witnesses to the history of the formation of our solar system.’
This begs the mother of all questions. What came before the Big Bang? Martin Rubin, in sneakers and a blue sweatshirt, says: ‘We don’t know. And we’re unable to imagine it. Before that, there was no space and, consequently, no time. Before the Big Bang, there was the opposite of eternity, so to speak.’
Rubin also builds instruments that will accompany probes and satellites into the cosmic vacuum. Everywhere you look, apparatus, encased cylinders. The jumble of technical gear would have astounded even Gyro Gearloose. Rubin points to one of the devices and explains: ‘This time-of-flight mass spectrometer will fly to a comet in 2029 to answer further questions.’
But the Swiss are taking things even further, exploring the universe in search of the origins of space and time. To catch such intergalactic sights, you have to go to Zermatt, which receives guests like an enclave of bliss. Crepes fry fragrantly down in the Alpine village and wherever you look: stylish bars, stylish restaurants, stylish boutiques. Rising above it all, the region’s undisputed star – the Matterhorn – a snow-covered pyramid piercing the sky.
The Gornergrat Railway starts its climb at the base station in the village. It’s Europe’s second-highest mountain railway. The treeline approaches, snowfields slip by. It comes to a halt at an elevation of 3,100 metres.
We are surrounded by 4,000-metre peaks, but as if that weren’t enough: this is also the site of the highest hotel in Switzerland.
The Kulmhotel Gornergrat looks like a knight’s castle suspended in the air. Inside, it has 22 rooms fragrant with Swiss pine, modern bathrooms, snow-white bedding. Downstairs, two restaurants display modern art and serve fine food. But the hotel is not just a hotel: it’s also the site of the Stellarium Gornergrat, an observatory from which you can gaze into the furthest corners of the universe.
Dr Timm Riesen is the observatory’s director. He has a PhD in astrophysics and knows all about mass spectrometry, galaxies and nebulae. He worked for NASA on Hawaii for six years and was present for the launch of the Ariane 5 rocket in French Guiana.
Riesen climbs the north tower of the hotel. Up here, beneath a huge dome, is the ‘eye’ – the telescope. Riesen says: ‘Deep-sky cameras can observe things in the universe 100 million light years away. They can take pictures of galaxy clusters, double stars and distant spiral nebulae.’
Researchers estimate that around 200 billion galaxies exist. An unimaginable number.
He swings the telescope around and the covers open to reveal an icy sky filled with blazing stars. Some of the phenomena can be observed through the eyepiece, but the true mysteries will appear on a computer screen.
Riesen points to the Andromeda nebula. ‘That’s our neighbour in space’, he says. ‘A spiral galaxy 2.5 million light years away.’ Then many more formations appear, crazy patterns and constellations: the Eagle Nebula, the Dumbbell Nebula, the Whirlpool Galaxy, the Virgo Cluster. Riesen says: ‘Fifty-four million light years away, and we’re part of it.’
Under the dome of the telescope, it’s now bitterly cold. The Milky Way glitters high overhead. Riesen talks some more. Researchers estimate that there are around 200 billion galaxies in the observable universe. An unimaginable number. But it gets even better.
Asked whether he thinks there is other life out there, Riesen says: ‘We have found 5,000 exoplanets. According to recent calculations there must be 200 to 400 billion stars like the sun, with a correspondingly high number of planets moving around them. So, the prospects are good.’
What prospects?
Riesen: ‘The probability that other life exists. Single-celled. Multi-celled if we’re lucky. Just like here on Earth.’
Marc Bielefeld
Author
From a balloon to the desert, out to sea, into the ice: in twelve captivating reports and podcasts, the author describes fascinating places around the world and encounters with remarkable people.
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Jens Görlich
Photographer
Great moments, peaceful bliss, poignant scenes: the photographer from Frankfurt always has his camera ready to capture what words can’t express.
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Lufthansa
Aluminium Collection
Travel companion
Ready for any adventure: In Switzerland, the suitcase spent a night on the glacier, climbed rocky peaks, and always made a good impression. Professional, elegant, and beautifully robust.
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