TUCSON, AZ — SOFIA is retiring in Arizona!
NASA's SOFIA, which stands for Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, is now retired and heading to the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson.
The Boeing 747SP jetliner is expected to make its final flight from NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale, California to Tucson on Tuesday, December 13.
The aircraft was modified to carry a reflecting telescope. Engineering innovations enabled a large door in the fuselage to remain open while the aircraft was in flight. This allowed the telescope to observe infrared light from the moon, planets, stars, star-forming regions, and nearby galaxies.
SOFIA completed its science program and ended operations in September after a successful eight years of science.
“The SOFIA mission has a powerful potential to inspire, from its discoveries about the unknown in our universe, to the engineering achievements that broke new ground, to the international cooperation that made it all possible,” said Paul Hertz, senior advisor for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We are excited SOFIA will continue to engage a diverse new generation of scientists, engineers, and explorers.”
While at Pima Air & Space Museum, SOFIA will join other notable NASA aircraft, like the first Super Guppy that transported Saturn V rocket parts for the Apollo missions, and the KC-135 “Weightless Wonder V” that created low-gravity conditions by flying parabolic arcs – steep climbs and dives – to conduct science experiments and train astronauts.
