SOFIA is a joint American-German program. Both countries are contributing to the construction of the observatory; both countries' scientists are planning to observe using SOFIA. The US is responsible for the design and modification of the Boeing 747-SP that is the airborne platform for the observatory, and Germany is responsible for the design, construction, test, and delivery of the telescope for integration into the aircraft by the US team. In Germany, MAN Technologies AG of Mainz and Augsburg built the telescope and Kayser-Threde of Munich supplied the optics. Several other European subcontractors helped to fabricate this complex telescope. Universities Space Research Association (USRA) is NASA's prime contractor for the development and operation of SOFIA (see below).

After assembly, test, and acceptance by DLR, the German Aerospace Center, and NASA, the telescope was disassembled to three large components and loaded and shipped to the US. Owing to their large size, these components were transported aboard a huge Airbus Beluga cargo aircraft. The largest of the components, the suspension assembly that provides the telescope's center support structure, weighs approximately 25,000 pounds and measures some15 feet in diameter in its shipping fixture. The primary mirror assembly weighs approximately 4,500 pounds, and the metering structure, which holds the telescope's secondary mirror assembly, weighs approximately 2,000 pounds. The aptly named Beluga is designed for just such oversized loads, but can't make the trip in one flight. The aircraft first landed in the US in Buffalo, New York on Tuesday, and arrived in Waco Texas mid-day on Wednesday.

Over the next nine months the telescope will be installed in the Boeing 747 SP by engineers and technicians of L3 Communications Integration Systems, a USRA subcontractor, with the assistance of the German contractors who helped to construct the telescope. Once installation is completed in spring 2003, ground tests of the entire aircraft and telescope system will be conducted at L3's facility. In fall 2003 flight tests commence and are expected to be completed by spring 2004. SOFIA is scheduled to arrive at NASA Ames in May or June of 2004 for final flight tests. Full-scale astronomical observations are expected to begin in the fall of 2004, opening a new window on the infrared universe.

"SOFIA will be a world-class airborne observatory, and we're looking forward to the day when it will become operational," said USRA astronomer Eric Becklin, SOFIA's chief scientist and designated observatory director. "We expect it to help us make major contributions to our understanding of many important phenomena in the universe." SOFIA will provide the infrared observing tools for astronomers to study star forming regions, the center of our galaxy, and disks around young stars where new planetary systems are forming. It will allow astronomers to characterize the ecosystems of galaxies by revealing the chemical composition and physical condition of the interstellar medium, the dust and gas between the stars.

SOFIA will also be the world's largest portable observatory. It will allow astronomers to fly the telescope to exactly the right location for observing occultation by asteroids, moons, and planets as they pass in front of distant stars. By observing the way the starlight disappears, astronomers can measure the size of these solar system objects as well as study atmospheres (when they exist) of these distant bodies. SOFIA's predecessor, the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (1971-1995), discovered Uranus' rings while observing the occultation of a star by the planet.

As an airborne observatory, SOFIA offers a unique opportunity for scientists and educators to work together in the research environment on board. Working closely with USRA and NASA, the SETI Institute and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific are developing the education and public outreach (EPO) program for SOFIA. Plans are underway to train and then fly educators on research missions in the Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors program. For further information on SOFIA and its EPO program, please visit http://sofia.arc.nasa.gov and follow the links to Education. To stay informed about current and future opportunities in EPO, sign up for the SOFIA Educators E-Newsletter.

NASA awarded a $484.2 million contract to Universities Space Research Association, Columbia, MD, in December 1996 to acquire, develop, and operate SOFIA. Other team members include L-3 Communications Integrated Systems, Waco, TX; United Airlines Services, San Francisco and United Airlines, Chicago; the University of California, Los Angeles, Berkeley, and Santa Cruz, CA; the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, San Francisco; and the SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA.

NASA and DLR, the German space agency, are sharing SOFIA's project costs, with NASA funding 80 per cent and DLR the remaining 20 percent. Annual operating costs of SOFIA are anticipated to be about $40 million. For SOFIA images and information see these four websites:

http://sofia.arc.nasa.gov

http://www.dlr.de/sofia

http://sofia.arc.nasa.gov/News/headline5/headline5.html

http://www.amesnews.arc.nasa.gov/releases/2002/02images/sofia/sofia.html