A NASA jumbo jet that will help scientists unlock the origins of the universe with infrared observations reached a milestone Friday when doors covering the plane’s telescope were fully opened in ...
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Dryden Flight Research Center
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News
SOFIA Telescope Assembly Activated In Flight
NASA's SOFIA 747SP is trailed by a NASA F/A-18 safety chase plane during a recent test of the flying observatory's telescope cavity door opening mechanism. Engineers tested the telescope assembly's control and operation during a door-closed telescope assembly activation flight test Jan. 15. (NASA Photo / Carla Thomas)
NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy successfully completed telescope assembly activation during an almost six-hour test flight Jan. 15. Movement and stability of the telescope were examined using the telescope's control system software to verify that the telescope assembly is able to achieve inertial stabilization, which enables the telescope to continually point at a celestial object while the aircraft maneuvers in flight.
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NASA's SOFIA 747SP is trailed by a NASA F/A-18 safety chase plane during a recent test of the flying observatory's telescope cavity door opening mechanism. Engineers tested the telescope assembly's control and operation during a door-closed telescope assembly activation flight test Jan. 15. (NASA Photo / Carla Thomas)NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy successfully completed telescope assembly activation during an almost six-hour test flight Jan. 15. Movement and stability of the telescope were examined using the telescope's control system software to verify that the telescope assembly is able to achieve inertial stabilization, which enables the telescope to continually point at a celestial object while the aircraft maneuvers in flight.
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Latest News
NASA Airborne Telescope Will Be Used to Study Cosmos
NASA's SOFIA Aircraft Resumes Flight Tests
NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, aircraft took to the skies above California's Mojave Desert Dec. 9 on its first flight since January 2008.
SOFIA Imaging Systems Tested During Nighttime ...
The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy science team completed checkout of optical star tracking camera systems and conducted telescope assembly preparation exercises.
News and Events Features
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SOFIA Featured in UT-Arlington Planetarium Show
A new show featuring NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, began showing at the newly upgraded planetarium at the University of Texas-Arlington campus in October.
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Science Instruments Ready for SOFIA Airborne Telescope
Scientists are busy preparing for the "First Light" flight of NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA.
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NASA Awards SOFIA Engineering Contract Option
NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center has awarded a contract modification for further developmental engineering on SOFIA.
Spotlight
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SOFIA Overview
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.
› Fact Sheet
› Infrared Astronomy
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SOFIA Quick Facts
Download a PDF document containing aircraft, telescope and historical hightlights.
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SOFIA Science Center →
The SOFIA Science Center is operated by Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and the Deutches SOFIA Institut (DSI) for NASA and the German aerospace center DLR.
