NASA’s Unique SOFIA Boeing 747SP Flying Telescope Is Done
NASA announced Thursday that a rare modified Boeing 747SP—known as the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), will be shut down this year, after years of inflight observations of the moon, stars, planets, and far away galaxies.
NASA’s Boeing 747SP flying telescope platform is called SOFIA, which stands for Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. [Courtesy: NASA]
Key Takeaways:
NASA is retiring its SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy), a modified Boeing 747SP airborne telescope, citing high operating costs that no longer justify its scientific productivity.
Operating at 45,000 feet with an open-fuselage telescope, SOFIA made significant discoveries, including finding evidence of water on the moon and identifying the first molecule to form in the universe.
The extensive scientific data collected by SOFIA will be archived for future research, as NASA continues infrared exploration with new instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope.
NASA’s one-of-a-kind, modified Boeing 747SP airborne telescope platform is out of a job.
The space agency announced Thursday that the jet—known as the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)—will be shut down this year, after performing hundreds of missions to observe the moon, stars, planets, and faraway galaxies.
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Thom is a former senior editor for FLYING. Previously, his freelance reporting appeared in aviation industry magazines. Thom also spent three decades as a TV and digital journalist at CNN’s bureaus in Washington and Atlanta, eventually specializing in aviation. He has reported from air shows in Oshkosh, Farnborough and Paris. Follow Thom on Twitter @thompatterson.
