SOFIAThis high-dynamic range (HDR) photo of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) was captured just before sunset at the...SOFIA Flight 239 with Nichelle Nichols and AAAsSOFIA Flight 239 with Nichelle Nichols and AAAsGround Support Engineer Greg Perryman services the FORCAST instrument onboard the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) during the observatory’s...Scientists onboard SOFIA watch data come in from Pluto’s atmosphere as SOFIA flies into the shadow the dwarf planet cast...Technicians fill SOFIA’s instrument with liquid nitrogen and helium to keep the detectors cold.SOFIA New Zealand Deployment Flight 116.The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)SOFIA receiving a water-arch salute from the Christchurch International Airport fire brigade after landing in New Zealand (1:55pm local time...Representatives of New Zealand media onboard SOFIA during a tour.Maori elder Aroha Reriti-Crofts (center) reading a traditional blessing ceremony for SOFIA and all who fly on her.SOFIA's predecessor, the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO), was dedicated on May 21, 1975. Carrying a 36 inch telecope, the KAO...SOFIA will attempt to observe another occultation on June 29.SOFIA New Zealand Deployment Flight 116.SOFIA can identify spectral fingerprints of the processes creating the universe’s water at wavelengths inaccessible to any other observatory.Images of Comet ISON were obtained using SOFIA’s FORCAST camera at wavelengths of 11.1, 19.7, and 31.5 microns. Measurements at...Researchers using SOFIA have captured new images of a ring of gas and dust seven light-years in diameter surrounding the...SOFIA mid-infrared image of the planetary nebula Minkowski 2-9 (M2-9), also known as the Butterfly Nebula.Infrared image of Jupiter from SOFIA’s First Light flight composed of individual images at wavelengths of 5.4 (blue), 24 (green)...The central portion of galaxy M82 includes the position of Supernova 2014J (north is at the top, east is to...Infrared image of the heart of the Orion star-formation complex taken using the FORCAST mid-infrared camera.Like most modern research telescopes, the SOFIA telescope uses a mirror to concentrate and focus the incoming light.How do you keep a telescope stable while flying at 40,000 feet?Christian Fischer checks the FIFI-LS that is cooled by liquid nitrogen and helium during testing.Christian Fischer, from the University of Stuttgart's Institute for Space Systems, works on the Field-Imaging Far-Infrared Line Spectrometer, or FIFI-LS,...These images from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope of C/2012 S1 (comet ISON) were taken on June 13, when ISON was...SOFIA’s flight crew prepare to takeoff from the U.S. Antarctic Program facility at Christchurch International Airport in Christchurch, New Zealand,...The SOFIA flying observatory taxis to the Christchurch, New Zealand, terminal after a nighttime flight to study celestial objects visible...