The 2.5 meter telescope, which was built in Germany, arrived in Waco, Texas, in early September 2002.  It is scheduled to be installed in the modified Boeing 747SP aircraft in early 2003.  Flight testing in Waco will begin later in the year, with delivery to SOFIA's operational base at Ames's Moffett Field in mid-2004. 

Infrared astronomy is a field that has benefited enormously from the space age.  The light that we see in the visible spectrum here on Earth represents only a small portion of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by objects in space.  A great deal can be learned by studying the universe in other parts of the spectrum. Water vapor in the Earth's atmosphere, however, screens out most infrared radiation, so in order to make observations in the infrared, it is necessary to put instruments either in outer space or in the upper atmosphere. SOFIA will fly at 41,000 feet (about 12,500 meters), an altitude at which it will be above 99 percent of the water vapor in the atmosphere.  Flying at 600 mph (966 k/hr), SOFIA will make observations through a specially-designed opening in the side of the airplane, similar (in function at least) to the opening in the dome of a ground-based astronomical observatory.

According to Dr. Thomas Greene, SOFIA project scientist at NASA Ames, "SOFIA will make observations that are impossible for even the largest and highest of ground-based telescopes. The telescope will be unique in being able to observe star-forming regions, the center of our galaxy, and also disks around young stars, where planets have recently formed or are likely to have formed. The telescope will be able to observe very obscured regions of space where visible light isn't able to penetrate, and as such, will complement NASA's Hubble Space telescope that operates in visible light." 

Since, unlike space-based instruments, SOFIA can be easily repaired and updated when it is on the ground, its useful life could last many years. The big question, of course, is how many frequent flyer miles SOFIA will earn during the mission.

NASA's SOFIA Home Page.  News about SOFIA, information for researchers, a multimedia gallery, and more. 

Universities Space Research Association--the prime contractor for SOFIA.  USRA has 88 member institutions, all with graduate programs in space sciences or aerospace engineering.  Eighty-two of the institutions are in the United States, two are in England, two are in Canada, and two are in Israel.

DLR - Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt. The German Aerospace Center (which is also the Space Agency of the German Federal Republic).  SOFIA's home page on the DLR site.

"NASA's SOFIA:  The Airborne Telescope Prepares To Take Flight," by Edna DeVore on Space.com (May 9, 2002).  Interesting discussion of all aspects of SOFIA in laypersons' terms.

"SOFIA: The Future of Airborne Astronomy," by E. F. Erickson and J. A. Davidson.  Reprint of an article from the Proceedings of the Airborne Astronomy Symposium on the Galactic Ecosystem: From Gas to Stars to Dust, edited by M.R. Haas, J.A. Davidson, & E.F. Erickson (San Francisco: ASP, no date).

Infrared Astronomy Outreach Page at Caltech.  An information-packed site that explains the what, why, and how of infrared astronomy.

"Dryden F-18s Fly Airborne Astronomy Experiment," NASA/Dryden Flight Research Center News Release, Feb. 24, 2000. On Spaceflight Now.

"Short History of Airborne Astronomy," on NASA's Observatorium.  SOFIA is not the first airborne observatory.

Lear Jet Infrared Telescope, on display (at least virtually) at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.  A 12 inch infrared telescope that was used in experiments in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

"Airborne Observatory's Telescope Slims Down," NASA News Release, Nov. 2, 1999. Describes how French engineers reconfigured the telescope's primary mirror to meet the weight requirements of a 747SP flying at 41,000 feet.