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 Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a modified Boeing 747SP airborne telescope, citing that its scientific productivity no longer justifies its high operating costs.
SOFIA uniquely operated by flying a 106-inch telescope at 45,000 feet with an open fuselage door, allowing it to observe celestial objects above 99% of Earth's atmospheric water vapor.
Despite its closure, SOFIA made significant discoveries, including finding water on the sunlit surface of the moon and providing insights into the early universe, exoplanets, and black holes.
SOFIA's collected data will be archived for future research, and NASA plans to continue infrared astronomy with newer platforms such as 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.
