Dryden Home > Collections > Photo Home > SOFIA > Photo # ED08-0067-10 |
This backlit photo of SOFIA's infrared telescope during characterization testing shows the cell-like construction of the telescope's 2.5-meter primary mirror. |
|
Photo Number: | ED08-0067-10 |
Photo Date: | March 10, 2008 |
Formats: |
640x538 JPEG Image (284 KBytes) 1280x1076 JPEG Image (1014 KBytes) 3000x2523 JPEG Image (5920 KBytes) |
Photo Description: |
The SOFIA telescope team collected baseline operational measurements during several nights of characterization testing in March 2008 while the SOFIA 747SP aircraft that houses the German-built infrared telescope was parked on an unlit ramp next to its hangar at the NASA Dryden Flight Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif. The primary celestial target was Polaris, the North Star. The activity provided the team with a working knowledge of how telescope operating systems interact and the experience of tracking celestial targets from the ground. |
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 98.4-inch (2.5 meter) diameter infrared telescope weighing 20 metric tons mounted in a highly-modified Boeing 747SP aircraft, has begun its flight test phase in a joint program by NASA and DLR Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft und Raumfahrt (German Aerospace Center). Major aircraft modifications and installation of the telescope was performed by L-3 Communications Integrated Systems facility at Waco, Texas. Systems integration and flight test operations are being conducted at NASA's Dryden Flight Resarch Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. SOFIA's science and mission operations are managed jointly by the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and the Deutsches SOFIA Institut (DSI), and are based at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field near San Jose, Calif. Once operational, 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: | Tom Tschida |
Keywords: | SOFIA, Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, baseline operational measurements, characterization testing, 747SP aircraft, German-built infrared telescope, Dryden Flight Operations Facility, Palmdale, Calif., Polaris, North Star, Clipper Lindbergh, 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 |
Dryden Home > Collections > Photo Home > SOFIA > Photo # ED08-0067-10 |
|
|
Business | Education | History | Gallery | News Room | Organizations | Research | Search | Site Index |
Last Modified: March 18, 2008 |