Return to the Moon [Space Deep Space Gateway]

摘要

IT'S A MISERABLE late October morning in the north German city of Bremen. I am arriving to visit the local Airbus site. Employing 3,000 people, the site, the second biggest in Germany, manufactures high-lift systems for wings of Airbus jetliners, as well as upper stages for Europe's Ariane 5 rockets. However, today I am here to see another technology marvel. Before entering the giant hall, I must don an unfashionable clean room cap and coat and slip into disposable shoe covers. Despite the gloomy weather, the atmosphere in the hangar is full of excitement. Oliver Juckenhoefel, who leads the space department of Airbus' operations in Bremen, welcomes me.