The Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) landed at NASA's Ames Research Center for tours by NASA employees, members of the media and the general public. Housing a 17-ton telescope assembly, the highly modified Boeing 747SP aircraft is the largest flying telescope in the world. More than 6500 people visited SOFIA during her visit.
For more information about SOFIA, please visit http://www.nasa.gov/sofia
Can I get a ride?
ghettosearch 3 months ago
Correction to commentary: it Commonly flies at 45,000 feet ASL
highdesertjim 4 months ago
@nasaames
Oh! Thank you very much for the explanation. Wow, it absolutely makes sense when explained. :D Thank you.
huyked 4 months ago
@huyked and @brian4480 ... There are two additional benefits of having the telescope in an airplane. One is the ability to position the telescope anywhere around the world to make an observation. A telescope in orbit cannot be re-positioned. Also, by landing after each flight, it is easy to maintain, repair and replace the sensors recording the observations...so that scientists can take advantage of new technologies as they are developed. Thanks for watching and commenting. -NASA Ames
nasaames 4 months ago
@brian4480
Hmm... I hadn't thought about that. Thanks.
huyked 4 months ago
@huyked Compared to shooting that same telescope into orbit they have cut cost DRAMATICALLY. I bet you could fly that plane every day for 2 years with the amount of fuel it would cost to put it into space.
brian4480 4 months ago
Interesting telescope. Seems it would have expensive operating costs because of feul consumption.
huyked 4 months ago
Cool xD
1mirzo1 4 months ago