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Technicians lift SOFIA's primary mirror assembly above NASA's 747SP airborne astronomy aircraft just prior to installation in the telescope cavity. |
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| Photo Number: |
ED08-0262-47 |
| Photo Date: |
October 8, 2008 |
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| Formats: |
640x519 JPEG Image (362 KBytes)
1280x1038 JPEG Image (1326 KBytes)
3000x2433 JPEG Image (6958 KBytes)
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Photo
Description: |
Technicians lift SOFIA's primary mirror assembly above NASA's 747SP airborne astronomy aircraft just prior to installation in the telescope cavity. |
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Project
Description: |
NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is being developed as a world-class observatory complementing the Hubble Space Telescope. The observatory, which features a German-built 98.4-inch (2.5 meter) diameter infrared telescope weighing 20 metric tons mounted in a highly-modified Boeing 747SP aircraft, has begun its flight test phase in a joint program by NASA and DLR Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft und Raumfahrt (German Aerospace Center). Major aircraft modifications and installation of the telescope was performed by L-3 Communications Integrated Systems facility at Waco, Texas. Systems integration and flight test operations are being conducted at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. SOFIA's science and mission operations are managed jointly by the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and the Deutsches SOFIA Institut (DSI), and are based at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field near San Jose, Calif. Once operational, SOFIA will be the world's primary infrared observatory during a mission lasting up to 20 years, as well as an outstanding laboratory for developing and testing instrumentation and detector technology. |
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| NASA Photo by: |
Carla Thomas |
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| Keywords: |
SOFIA, Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, 747 airborne observatory, primary mirror assembly, installation, telescope cavity |
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