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Boeing 747 Modified To Act As Infrared Telescope

Posted by timothy on from the watchers-above dept.

xyz writes "A joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center has developed a highly modified Boeing-747SP aircraft to carry a 2.5-meter (98.4 inch) infrared telescope. The project SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy) will observe radiation in the wavelengths from 0.3 microns to 1.0 millimeters, spanning the visible, infrared, and sub-millimeter portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The observations will be taken at an altitude of 40,000 to 45,000 feet (12 to 14 km) which is above 99.8 percent of the water vapor in Earth's atmosphere, thus giving it a greater range of observations." Update: 10/31 13:27 GMT by T : Mea culpa -- headline changed to reflect that this telescope is intended for looking out at space rather than down at the Earth.

5 of 85 comments (clear)

  1. Earth-observing? by Scutter · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Boeing 747 Modified To Act As Earth-Observing Telescope

    FTFW:

    SOFIA is an airborne observatory that will study the universe in the infrared spectrum.

    So, by "Earth-observing", what you meant was "everything EXCEPT Earth", right?

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    "Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
    1. Re:Earth-observing? by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Ummmm....TFS says they're using an infrared telescope. The water vapor shouldn't matter much, right? Especially since they're mostly trying to look at the atmosphere to study things such as global warming.

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      My blog
    2. Re:Earth-observing? by aproposofwhat · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Sorry, Morgan, you're usually quite insightful, but water vapour is quite good at absorbing infra-red radiation - see here for some details.

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      One swallow does not a fellatrix make
  2. Earth-observing? by m50d · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If they were observing the Earth, surely it would be better to do it from below all that water vapor.

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    I am trolling
  3. Re:Kuiper Airborne Observatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    SOFIA pwns Kuiper Airborn Observatory.