NASA Flight Tests Unique Jumbo Jet With Opening In Side; Plane's Airborne Telescope Will Be Used to Study Cosmos
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EDWARDS, Calif. -- 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 flight.
The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, a modified 747
jet known as SOFIA, flew for one hour and 19 minutes, which included
two minutes with the telescope's doors fully opened. The goal was to
allow engineers to understand how air flows in and around the
telescope. It was the first time outside air has interacted with the
part of the plane that carries the 98-inch infrared telescope.
"Today we opened the telescope cavity door, the first time we have
fully exposed the telescope and the largest cavity ever flown while
in flight," said Bob Meyer, SOFIA program manager at NASA's Dryden
Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif. "This is a significant step
toward certifying NASA's next great observatory for future study of
the universe."
Besides these test flights of the airplane, two flights to operate and
verify the scientific capabilities of the telescope assembly are
planned for spring 2010. Telescope systems such as the vibration
isolation system, the inertial stabilization system and the pointing
control system will be tested during daytime flights.
These flights will prepare the telescope assembly for the first flight
with the telescope operating. That first flight will be the initial
opportunity scientists have to use the telescope and begin the
process of quantifying its performance to prepare for SOFIA's planned
20-year science program.
SOFIA is a joint venture of NASA and the German Aerospace Center. NASA
supplied the aircraft. The telescope was built in Germany.
Dryden manages the SOFIA program. The aircraft is based at NASA's
Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif. NASA's Ames
Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., manages SOFIA's scientific
program. The Universities Space Research Association, in Columbia,
Md., and the German SOFIA Institute in Stuttgart, Germany, operate
SOFIA's scientific program.
To see a picture of SOFIA with the doors to the telescope cavity open,
visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/
Video from SOFIA's flight will air on NASA Television. For NASA TV
streaming video, schedules, and downlink information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
For more details about SOFIA and its mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/sofia
Source: NASA
