SOFIA observatory / European Space Agency’s Infrared Space Observatory / Observatory The / Herschel Space Observatory / NASA Ames Research Center / Goddard Space Flight Center / NASA’s Kuiper Airborne Observatory / Facility Class Science Instruments / NASA Dryden Flight Research Center’s Aircraft Operations Facility / /
IndustryTerm
science applications / infrared science applications / simultaneous continuum imaging / potential applications / warm interstellar gas / cross-elevation travel / high-sensitivity wide-field imaging / Focal plane technology / stateof-the-art and high-risk technologies / chemical and dynamical studies / imaging / technology development program / /
NaturalFeature
Mauna Kea / /
Organization
IRAC / German PI / Internal Revenue Service / NASA Ames Research Center / US Federal Reserve / MIPS / Universities Space Research Association / European Space Agency / National Aeronautics and Space Administration / Science and Mission Operations Center / NASA Dryden Flight Research Center / Goddard Space Flight Center / /
DRAFT – SOFIA Planetary Science Vision Introduction The Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA, Figure 1) is a Boeing 747-SP aircraft housing a 2.5-meter gyrostabilized telescope designed to make sens