NASA's
Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a 747SP aircraft modified to carry a 2.5-meter telescope, has successfully completed its early test flights and achieved first light, demonstrating that the telescope and one of its infrared cameras work together as expected.
By that time, if all goes according to plan, astronauts will have outfitted the Hubble Space Telescope with an infrared camera, and NASA may be 2 years away from launching a major infrared observatory know as SOFIA (
Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy).
The James Webb Space Telescope, the
Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy and the US[ETH]Japanese Global Precipitation Measurement program all are examples of NASA missions that are grounded through the government shutdown.
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
Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) was making its first test flight after eight years of conversion from an airliner into the world's largest airbone observatory--and ducking a budget cancellation last year (S&T: October 2006, page 24, and June 2006, page 8).
A significant minority of the panel, however, argues that the project's purpose is too narrow in comparison to alternative scientific space missions, such as the proposed
Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).