Nasa and the German Aerospace Centre’s joint programme, the stratospheric observatory for infrared astronomy (SOFIA), has begun its first in-flight night observations.
SOFIA, a highly modified Boeing 747SP jetliner fitted with a 100in diameter reflecting telescope, performed a six-hour flight at altitudes of up to 35,000ft.
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Scientists, astronomers, engineers and technicians onboard the aircraft gathered telescope performance data at consoles in the aircraft’s main cabin.
Nasa SOFIA project scientist Pam Marcum said that wind tunnel tests and supercomputer calculations made at the start of the programme predicted they would have sharp enough images for front-line astronomical research.
The observatory used a highly sensitive faint object infrared camera for the SOFIA telescope (FORCAST) for the initial observations in flight.
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By GlobalData
