SOFIA - THE NEXT-GENERATION AIRBORNE OBSERVATORY

The United States and German Space Agencies (NASA and DARA) are collab orating in plans for SOFIA - The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrare d Astronomy. It is a 2.5 meter telescope to be installed in a Boeing 7 47 aircraft and operated at altitudes from 41,000 to 45,000 feet. It w ill permit routine measurement of infrared radiation absorbed by the a tmosphere at lower altitudes, and observation of astronomical objects and transient events from anywhere in the world. The concept is based on 20 years of experience with NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO ), which SOFIA would replace. SOFIA will complement the capabilities o f other future space missions, and will enable scientists to make obse rvations which would otherwise be made from space.