The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), which is a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), nears operational phase and NASA has allowed limited visiting while the device was at the space agency's Ames Research Center in Mountain View.
SOFIA is actually a modified Boeing 747SP airliner which carries a 2.5-meter reflector telescope. It is designed to fly at more than 45,000 feet, above most of water vapor in the Earth's atmosphere. The three-mirror telescope looks out of a large opening in the side of the fuselage close to the airplane's tail. The SOFIA will initially carry nine instruments for infrared astronomy and high-speed optical astronomy.
