-SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) is the world’s largest airborne astronomical observatory.
-SOFIA is a joint project between NASA and the German Aerospace Centre, DLR.
– It is gearing up for 2018 with missions planned between February 2018 and January 2019.
-It features a 100-inch diameter telescope weighing up to 20 tons and is mounted on a modified Boeing 747SP aircraft.
-SOFIA’s first-generation cameras and spectrographs enable NASA to use it for a wide variety of missions.
-The telescope has the ability to produce a higher resolution image, three times higher in quality than those captured by other observatories.
-Sofia’s 2.5-meter diameter telescope allows astronomers to access the visible, infrared and sub-millimeter spectrum.
