Photos from SOFIA, NASA's Flying Telescope (Gallery)

By Space.com Staff
published

Looking Down the Length of SOFIA

Mike Wall

A view down the length of SOFIA. The bulge near the tail marks the area where the 17-ton infrared telescope is housed.

Seats Near SOFIA Mission Control

Mike Wall

These seats, near SOFIA's "mission control," are occupied by technical personnel when the observatory is flying a mission.

SOFIA, So Good

NASA/Tom Tschida

Tuesday, December 7, 2010 The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, 747SP sat on the tarmac during nighttime telescope operations at NASA’s Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in October 2010. SOFIA, a cooperative program between NASA and the German Aerospace Center DLR, took its first science flight Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2010, focusing on the Orion nebula and the Sharpless 140 star cluster.

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Space.com Staff
Space.com Staff
News and editorial team

Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.