May 28, 2010

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

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

Beth Hagenauer
NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif 661-276-7960 beth hagenauer-1@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

-end-

To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe@mediaservices nasa gov To remove your address from the list, send a message to: hqnews-unsubscribe@mediaservices nasa gov

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription:

You are subscribed to the following list: [list_name]

using the following email: example@example.com

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

https://aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/u/NASA_REPORTS/example/example com/

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

<[program_url]/list/[list]>

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at:

<mailto:[list_owner_email]>

The following physical address is associated with this mailing list:

[physical_address]