the Institute of Planetary Research carries out and supports research programs on the internal structure, formation and evolution of the planets, their moons, and asteroids and comets. Techniques employed include remote sensing and in-situ investigations using instruments carried on spacecraft, astronomical observations from the ground, theoretical modeling, and laboratory experiments. Current investigations include the early history of Mars, the Venusian atmosphere, near-Earth asteroids, the Saturnian Satellites Titan and Enceladus and the results of recent comet observations. The institute contributes to the search for extrasolar planets.For the purposes of these investigations it is necessary to study and develop the technical means by which scientific data can be gathered via space missions and methods for the processing and quantitative evaluation of large amounts of data collected from spacecraft and ground-based telescopes. The work of the institute, which is carried out in close co-operation with other German and foreign research facilities, involves concept studies, the development of instruments and their calibration, the operation of instrumentation on spacecraft, observations with ground-based and orbiting telescopes, and the acquisition, reduction, analysis, archiving and distribution of scientific data.