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About Manfred Gaida
Manfred Gaida has been fascinated by space since his earliest youth and became a member of the 'Kölner Sternfreunde' as a schoolboy. From 1973 to 1982, he studied astronomy and physics at the Universities of Bonn and Cologne and worked for 33 years as an astronomer at the German Space Agency at DLR. In between, he also devoted several years to science journalism and worked as a specialist translator for well-known publishers specialising in popular science.
Even in retirement, Gaida remains closely associated with DLR and still enjoys sharing astronomical knowledge and current research findings with the public. His annual DLR astronomy seminar is now approaching the 30-year mark and continues to be as popular as ever. Over the past 20 years, many school classes have also gone on a journey with him on behalf of DLR, from the Pole Star to the Southern Cross in the planetarium basement of the Leonardo da Vinci Grammar School in Cologne. And it is not unusual for radio and television to call on his knowledge and expertise in astronomy and space travel for interviews.
Together with his former DLR colleagues Christian Gritzner and Josef Hoell, he is the author of the popular science book Warum nimmt der Mond zu und ab? With 80 questions through space. Since May 2021, Manfred Gaida has also been providing information in short form on selected topics and people about astronomical history on Twitter.