Hanna von Hoerner

Hanna von Hoerner (14 November 1942 – 4 July 2014) was a German astrophysicist. She founded the company von Hoerner & Sulger which produces scientific instruments, notably cosmic dust analyzers used on space missions by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA.

Early life Hanna von Hoerner was born in Görlitz in 1942. Her father was the astrophysicist Sebastian von Hoerner. With his help and encouragement, she repaired radios when she was six and built an oscilloscope at the age of fourteen.

Education In 1965, von Hoerner returned to West Germany to study experimental physics at Heidelberg University. In 1971 she earned an undergraduate degree using secondary ion mass spectrometry. Early data included images of dust particles collected in the environment of Comet 67P/C-G from the nucleus approach phase until along with secondary ion mass spectra for some of those particles. 2013 Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany First Class for her contributions to space science in Germany. Member of the Space Forum in the BDLI (Bundesverband der Deutschen Luft- und Raumfahrtindustrie / German Aerospace Industries Association) Board of Trustees of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research Search for satellites near comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko using Rosetta/OSIRIS images Astronomy & Astrophysics. vol.583: A19.