Major Surgery: How engineers altered a jumbo jet to carry the world's biggest airborne telescope

On several nights this winter in the frigid stratosphere over the Pacific Ocean, the pilots of a dramatically modified Boeing 747SP will relinquish control of the aircraft, and astronomical mission controllers will take over, steering the jumbo jet westward along a slightly curved star-tracking cour...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Air & space Smithsonian 2011-01, Vol.25 (6), p.26-31
Main Author: Bell, TE
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerospace
Aircraft
Aircraft components
Astronomical bodies
Cabins
Observatories
Passengers
Telescopes
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:On several nights this winter in the frigid stratosphere over the Pacific Ocean, the pilots of a dramatically modified Boeing 747SP will relinquish control of the aircraft, and astronomical mission controllers will take over, steering the jumbo jet westward along a slightly curved star-tracking course at 520 mph In the former passenger cabin where rows of seats used to be, two dozen astronomers and technicians at computer workstations will sit poised for an event unprecedented in the history of aerospace. This airborne observatory is SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy. SOFIA is a joint creation of NASA which oversaw the extensive modification of the aircraft, and the German Aerospace Center DLR, which managed the construction of the telescope, the largest ever borne aloft.
ISSN:0886-2257