The SOFIA observatory consists of a modified 1970s Boeing 747SP airplane containing a 32.5-ton infrared telescope system, including a 2.5-meter diameter reflecting telescope.

Clipper Lindbergh will fly over 41,000 feet (about 12 kilometers) in the stratosphere above the Earth’s surface. This altitude will allow the infrared telescope to avoid about 99& of the Earth’s atmosphere, especially water vapor, that interferes with its ability to study the infrared portion of the universe.

The SOFIA mission is a combined effort by NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The Universities Space Research Association (USRA) takes care of development, operation, and management of the U.S. portion of the project, while the Deutsches SOFIA Institut (DSI) manages the German side.

Its primary mission is to study the composition of planetary surfaces and atmospheres; to research the evoluation, structure, and composition of comets, and to investigate the physical and chemical aspects of the interstellar medium, stars, and other stellar objects.

The SOFIA aircraft will carry nine instruments for studying at the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, in this case at wavelengths from one to 655 micrometers. It will also conduct optical studies at wavelengths from 0.3 to 1.1 micrometers.

Once operational, the Clipper Lindbergh will fly three to four nights each week for a duration of about twenty years. The ship has been based out of NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The first flight of SOFIA occurred on April 26, 2007. Flight tests will continue at Edwards Air Force Base. Upon completion of those tests, it will be operated and maintained out of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.

U.S. pilot Charles Lindbergh (1902-1974) flew his first solo, non-stop flight from New York City (U.S.A.) to Paris (France) on May 20-21, 1927 (in 33.5 hours) in his airplane The Spirit of St. Louis.

The USRA website for SOFIA is: http://www.sofia.usra.edu/.

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Astronomy  NASA  Research  Science  William Atkins