| Introducing Helmut Jenkner – Captured by the Cosmos |
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bridges vol. 16, December 2007 / News from the Network: Austrian Researchers Abroad by Juliet M. Beverly mp3 download In the tree covered hills of Ottakring, the 16th district of Vienna, a young boy walks with his mother and discovers a building of a kind that he has never seen before - one with a tall tower, crowned with a glistening sunlit dome. Curious, the boy stops walking and asks his mother, "What's that?" She explains to him that it's an observatory where you look at the stars. "I want to look at the stars," the boy replies. You can, when you're a little bit older, his mother tells him, while continuing their walk. 
Dr. Helmut Jenkner
This childhood discovery constituted "the big bang" for Helmut Jenkner, now deputy head of the Hubble mission at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. As soon as he was "a little bit older," a 15-year-old Jenkner excitedly waited for nightfall to pay visits to the Kuffner-Sternwarte , the observatory he once discovered by chance. At his very first tour, the young Jenkner was instantly fascinated by the new world that opened above him in the night sky. He would make visits once, twice, or three times a week. At that time, the operative thing was to push the curfew more and more. Most certainly, the young man did not yet realize that his late nights at the Kuffner-Sternwarte were just the first steps into his lifelong international career in astronomy. Access to the full article is free, but requires you to register. Registration is simple and quick – all we need is your name and a valid e-mail address. We appreciate your interest in bridges. |
