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SOFIA

The German-built 100-inch telescope that is the heart of NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy is nestled in the SOFIA 747's rear fuselage.
 
Photo Number: ED06-0233-1
Photo Date: February 2, 2006
 
Formats: 640x621 JPEG Image (268 KBytes)
1280x1242 JPEG Image (782 KBytes)
3000x2910 JPEG Image (3267 KBytes)
 
Photo
Description:		 The German-built 100-inch telescope that is the heart of NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy is nestled in the SOFIA 747's rear fuselage.
 
Project
Description:		 NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is being developed as a world-class observatory complementing the Hubble Space Telescope. The observatory, which features a German-built 100-inch (2.5 meter) diameter infrared telescope weighing 20 tons mounted in a highly-modified Boeing 747SP aircraft, is approaching the flight test phase as part of a joint program by NASA and DLR Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt (German Aerospace Center). Major aircraft modifications and installation of the telescope has been carried out at L-3 Communications Integrated Systems facility at Waco, Texas. Systems integration and flight test operations will be conducted at NASA's Dryden Flight Resarch Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif, beginning in 2007. SOFIA's science and mission operations are being planned jointly by the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and the Deutsches SOFIA Institut (DSI), and are currently based at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field near San Jose, Calif. Once operational in the 2009-2010 period, SOFIA will be the world's primary infrared observatory during a mission lasting up to 20 years, as well as an outstanding laboratory for developing and testing instrumentation and detector technology.
 
NASA Photo by: L-3 Communications/USRA
 
Keywords: SOFIA, Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, German-built 100-inch (2.5 meter) diameter infrared telescope, 20 tons, highly-modified Boeing 747SP aircraft, DLR Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt (German Aerospace Center), L-3 Communications Integrated Systems, Universities Space Research Association, USRA, Deutsches SOFIA Institut, DSI
 
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