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Mission area of Observatory converted for operator crew and science investigators to use consoles and special mission equipment.
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Customer:
NASA and DLR, the German Space Agency, as subcontractor to USRA
Mission:
NASA and the DLR, German Aerospace Center, are working together to create SOFIA — a Boeing 747SP aircraft modified by L-3 Communications Integrated Systems to accommodate a 2.5 meter reflecting telescope. SOFIA will be the largest airborne observatory in the world, and will make observations that are impossible for even the largest and highest of ground-based telescopes. The observatory is being developed and operated for NASA by a team of industry experts led by the Universities Space Research Association. SOFIA will be based at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Federal Airfield near Mountain View, California.
SOFIA is just one of the space-based observatory missions under NASA's Origins Program, which along with the ground-based observatories paves the way for future achievements. As each Origins mission makes radical advances in technology, innovations will be fed forward, from one generation of missions to the next.
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Visible (left) and infrared (right) views of the constellation Orion show dramatic differences. Bright areas in the infrared image are hot, dense cores within clouds of gas and dust where new stars are being born, and are difficult in visible light.
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L-3 Integrated Systems’ role:
We have provided design engineering, airframe structural modifications and telescope integration/installation. We will be conducting ground/flight test activities to deliver a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified aircraft system. In addition to the support provided for SOFIA integration and testing at Waco, we will also support observatory operational testing and will provide sustaining engineering for the life of SOFIA.
Did you know:
The SOFIA aircraft is a Boeing 747SP with a distinguished history. It was originally acquired by Pan American World Airways and was delivered in May of 1977. The "SP" designates that this is a special short-body version of the 747, designed for longer flights than the basic model.
Although Pan Am typically named its aircraft after famous clipper ships, they gave this aircraft a special name - the Clipper Lindbergh - in honor of the famous aviator Charles Lindbergh. .Lindbergh's widow, Ann Morrow Lindbergh, personally christened the aircraft and officially placed it into service on May 6th, 1977-the 50th anniversary of his history-making first solo flight from New York to Paris in 1927.
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