DLR, Institute of planetary research, department of Planetary Geodesy

The DLR institute established at Berlin-Adlershof was founded in 1992 and is involved in all major European missions of planetary research venturing out into our Solar System.
DLR Berlin-Adlershof is involved with the NASA/ESA/ASI mission to Saturn and Titan, Cassini-Huygens. The institute played a key role in the development of the Rosetta comet mission and this effort continues with the Corot mission, searching for extrasolar planets.
With its HRSC camera on Europe's Mars Express mission, the institute makes a decisive contribution to the scientific programme of this special mission to the Red Planet. Yet, the Berlin scientists are not only involved in planning and preparing space missions. They also participate in missions after launch and evaluate scientific results.

Size, shape, rotation, and gravity field are fundamental properties of any planetary body. The Institute’s Planetary Geodesy Department is concerned with the determination and the detailed study of these properties, including how they might affect geophysical processes. General science goals are:
- Definition of reference systems
- Determination of rotation parameters, including effects of precession and libration
- Establishment of planetary geodetic control point networks
- Establishment of global and local three-dimensional surface representations
- Creation of geocoded image data and maps.