Most of my professional life was dedicated to human space flight. At the "Technische Universität Carolo-Wilhelmina zu Braunschweig" (Germany) I studied Computer Sciences with the application field of Space Flight Technologies finishing as Diplom-Informatiker (Master of Computer Sciences). In 1985 I joined MBB/ERNO (now Airbus Defence and Space) for almost 30 years until my retirement in 2015. All that time I worked as a Software System Engineer for COLUMBUS which is the European laboratory attached to the International Space Station. Supported by my employer I completed postgraduate studies at the "Delft University of Technology" (Netherlands) in 1999 with the Master of Space Systems Engineering. I was lucky to be part of the very challenging and long-lasting and still active project of COLUMBUS from its very beginning up to its successful and still ongoing operation in space.