The newly coated telescope mirror assembly for SOFIA is unloaded from a C-17 aircraft at the Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility prior to re-installation.
NASA FACT
In 1800, Sir William Herschel discovered an invisible form of radiation just beyond the red portion of the visible spectrum. He named this form of radiation infrared ("below" red).
Latest News
Newly Coated Mirror Assembly Returns
Main Mirror for SOFIA Receives Finish Coating
The main mirror for NASA's new airborne eye on the universe is now ready for installation.
SOFIA Primary Mirror Shipped to NASA Ames for Coating
The primary mirror assembly of NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, has been shipped to NASA's Ames Research Center near San Jose, Calif., for its final finish coating.
Overview
NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy
Image above: NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA, lifted off from Edwards Air Force Base at mid-day Thursday, Oct. 11, on the first in a series of flight tests intended to verify the flight performance of the highly modified Boeing 747SP to its design capability. NASA photo / Tony Landis
NASA is developing the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy - or SOFIA - as a world-class airborne observatory that will complement the Hubble, Spitzer, Herschel and James Webb space telescopes and major Earth-based telescopes. SOFIA features a German-built 100-inch (2.5 meter) diameter far-infrared telescope weighing 20 tons mounted in the rear fuselage of a highly modified Boeing 747SP aircraft. It is one of the premier space science programs of NASA's Science Mission Directorate.
> Read More
> SOFIA News Release
> View Podcast
> Infrared Astronomy
Image above: NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA, lifted off from Edwards Air Force Base at mid-day Thursday, Oct. 11, on the first in a series of flight tests intended to verify the flight performance of the highly modified Boeing 747SP to its design capability. NASA photo / Tony Landis NASA is developing the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy - or SOFIA - as a world-class airborne observatory that will complement the Hubble, Spitzer, Herschel and James Webb space telescopes and major Earth-based telescopes. SOFIA features a German-built 100-inch (2.5 meter) diameter far-infrared telescope weighing 20 tons mounted in the rear fuselage of a highly modified Boeing 747SP aircraft. It is one of the premier space science programs of NASA's Science Mission Directorate.
> Read More
> SOFIA News Release
> View Podcast
> Infrared Astronomy
Mission News
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SOFIA Telescope Operational Testing Continues
The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, telescope team collected baseline operational measurements during several nights of characterization testing in early March.
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SOFIA Visits Ames; Begins Mission Systems Installation
NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy made a brief visit to NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field near San Jose on Jan. 14.
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SOFIA Telescope Operation Checkout Continues
Initial flight testing of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, continued during December at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center.
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Spotlight
Sensational SOFIA
The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA arrived at Dryden this summer, marking a transition from significant modification of the aircraft to accommodate the largest airborne telescope to the start of flight tests, completion of subsystems integration and, eventually, to the task of exploring the heavens.
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