[meteorite-list] NASA's Airborne Infrared Observatory Sees The 'First Light'

[Ron Baalke]

May 28, 2010

J.D. Harrington 
Headquarters, Washington                                 
202-358-5241 
j.d.harrington at nasa.gov 

Cathy Weselby/Nicholas A. Veronico      
NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. 
650-604-2791/4589 
cathy.weselby at nasa.gov 
nveronico at sofia.usra.edu 

Beth Hagenauer      
NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif. 
661-276-7960 
beth.hagenauer-1 at nasa.gov 

RELEASE: 10-128

NASA'S AIRBORNE INFRARED OBSERVATORY SEES THE "FIRST LIGHT"

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared 
Astronomy (SOFIA), a joint program by NASA and the German Aerospace 
Center, achieved a major milestone May 26, with its first in-flight 
night observations. 

"With this flight, SOFIA begins a 20-year journey that will enable a 
wide variety of astronomical science observations not possible from 
other Earth and space-borne observatories," said Jon Morse, 
Astrophysics Division director in the Science Mission Directorate at 
NASA Headquarters in Washington. "It clearly sets expectations that 
SOFIA will provide us with "Great Observatory"-class astronomical 
science." 

The highly modified SOFIA Boeing 747SP jetliner fitted with a 100-inch 
diameter reflecting telescope took off from its home base at the 
Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., of NASA's Dryden 
Flight Research Center. The in-flight personnel consisted of an 
international crew from NASA, the Universities Space Research 
Association in Columbia, Md., Cornell University and the German SOFIA 
Institute (DSI) in Stuttgart. During the six-hour flight, at 
altitudes up to 35,000 feet, the crew of 10 scientists, astronomers, 
engineers and technicians gathered telescope performance data at 
consoles in the aircraft's main cabin. 

"Wind tunnel tests and supercomputer calculations made at the start of 
the SOFIA program predicted we would have sharp enough images for 
front-line astronomical research," said SOFIA project scientist Pam 
Marcum of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "A 
preliminary look at the first light data indicates we indeed 
accomplished that." 

The stability and precise pointing of the German-built telescope met 
or exceeded the expectations of the engineers and astronomers who put 
it through its paces during the flight. 

"The crowning accomplishment of the night came when scientists on 
board SOFIA recorded images of Jupiter," said USRA SOFIA senior 
science advisor Eric Becklin. "The composite image from SOFIA shows 
heat, trapped since the formation of the planet, pouring out of 
Jupiter's interior through holes in its clouds." 

The highly sensitive Faint Object infraRed CAmera for the SOFIA 
Telescope (FORCAST) used for these initial observations was operated 
in flight by its builders, a team led by Cornell's Terry Herter. 
FORCAST captures in minutes images that would require many hour-long 
exposures by ground-based observatories blocked from a clear infrared 
view by water vapor in the Earth's atmosphere. SOFIA's operational 
altitude, which is above more than 99 percent of that water vapor, 
allows it to receive 80 percent or more of the infrared light 
accessible to space observatories. 

The SOFIA program is managed at Dryden. Ames manages the SOFIA science 
and mission operations in cooperation with USRA and DSI. 

For more information about SOFIA, visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov/sofia 

For information about SOFIA's science mission, visit: 

http://www.sofia.usra.edu 

To see video of SOFIA in flight, visit: 

http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Movie/SOFIA/HTML/EM-0095-29.html 
	
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