NASA and its partners at the German Space Agency at the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) will conclude the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) mission, after a successful eight years of science. SOFIA will end operations no later than Sept. 30, 2022, at the conclusion of its current mission extension.
SOFIA is a Boeing 747SP airplane modified to carry a reflecting telescope. This 747SP has a 2.5-meter diameter reflecting telescope mounted at the rear of the fuselage. Its main advantage is that it can avoid almost all atmospheric water vapor at high altitude, observe infrared wavelengths that cannot be observed by ground-based equipment when blocked by the atmosphere, anywhere in the world.
Another iconic 747 is about to leave the sky. Luckily, we have this in Infinite Flight!
Astronomy and aviation combined. Such an interesting topic!
I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered the SOFIA 747 in IF for the first time, way back when.
I wouldn’t have known about the cancellation if you hadn’t made the topic. Thanks! I wonder why the yearly costs were so expensive. And if the James Webb Space Telescope contributed to the cancellation (?).
I read in Boeing 747SP - Wikipedia.
that “2016, the last 747SP in commercial service was withdrawn from service after 40 years by Iran Air.”
And I think the first airline to have the 747SP was Pan Am.
Years ago I would sometimes see it parked at a gate where the short form really stood out. I used to wonder what it would look like inside.
Ah, I later checked out your link and saw that NASA did mention the James Webb Telscope.
