Kühlungsborn, 07.07.2025 - Last Saturday at precisely 8 a.m., a research rocket with the MaxiDusty-2 payload was successfully launched from Andøya Space. The launch took place on the seventh countdown day after a two-week integration phase.

The aim of the mission is to collect dust particles in the mesosphere and then investigate them further in the laboratory. In order to gain a better physical understanding of the formation and growth of these particles, important atmospheric parameters were measured using the CONE and Faraday rocket instruments developed by the IAP. The rocket was intended to fly specifically through dust clouds in the mesosphere - for example through regions with noctilucent clouds (NLC) or polar mesospheric summer echoes (PMSE). With the help of our lidar at the ALOMAR observatory and the MAARSY radar, we were able to identify suitable flight conditions.

The flight and the recovery of the payload were successful. The scientific instruments have already been dismantled, cleaned and prepared for return transportation.

The Leibniz-Institute of Atmospheric Physics is one of the German main centers for Middle Atmosphere research and maintains active cooperations with several international research organizations. The institute is located near the Baltic Sea resort Kühlungsborn, owns a separate site on the island Rügen, and is a major partner of the ALOMAR observatory in northern Norway. As associated institute of the Rostock University it is part of the teaching programme in physics. A total of about 90 persons is employed at IAP. The institute realizes an equal-opportunity and family-friendly human resource policy and is certified with the audit "berufundfamilie"  ('career and family').

Contact: Director Prof. Claudia Stolle cstolle@iap-kborn.de