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SOFIA Sees Jupiter's Ancient Heat

Posted by Soulskill on from the but-blanche-and-dorothy-didn't-believe-her dept.

astroengine writes "The flying telescope SOFIA took its maiden flight on Wednesday, and its 'first light' images have already been released. The cool thing about SOFIA is that it flies high enough (integrated inside a converted 747, taking it to an altitude of 41,000 ft) to carry it above 99% of the atmosphere's infrared-absorbing water vapor. This means it can collect 80% of the IR radiation that hits orbital telescopes (like NASA's Spitzer) but without the huge cost of being launched into space. Also, SOFIA is expected to last 20 years, many times the operational lifespan of space missions. Already, SOFIA has returned stunning results, including the observation of heat leaking through Jupiter's clouds, heat that was generated billions of years ago when the gas giant was forming."

5 of 59 comments (clear)

  1. Vibration isolation by Krishnoid · · Score: 4, Informative

    I heard about this a while back and am still puzzled as to how you isolate a space telescope from vibrations while its still somewhat within the atmosphere. Is there very little or no turbulence at its flight altitude?

    1. Re:Vibration isolation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      The telescope is mounted on a spherical bearing with gyroscopic stabilization and image feedback to correct for drift. This takes care of rotations. For translations, there is a damped spring mechanism holding the whole kaboodle to the support bulkhead (the image doesn't care if the telescope is translated, as it is "inifinitely" far away; however sudden translations can cause the telescope to flex, moving the image plane). And the pilots are very, very skilled at keeping constant and very precise attitudes. It's remarkably stable.

  2. Re:Cheaper astronomy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    IT never fails to amaze me that NASA does not send a balloon to 100,000 feet and load it up with all kinds of scientific equipment.

    With that large payload you'd need a balloon the size of Milwaukee.

  3. Re:20 years is "many times"? by mrsquid0 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Also, infrared instruments usually need to be actively cooled, which means that the spacecraft needs a supply of coolant, such as liquid nitrogen. The coolant usually runs out long before anything on the spacecraft breaks down. So, the lifespans of space-based infrared telescopes tend to be limited by the amount of coolant that can be stored onboard. Sofia does not have that problem because it can refill its tanks every time it finished flying.

    --
    Just because you are paranoid does not mean that no-one is out to get you.
  4. Re:Cheaper astronomy by DesertNomad · · Score: 4, Informative

    Um, they do and do so regularly. http://www.csbf.nasa.gov/ http://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/balloon/ Balloons hoisting 2000kg+ payloads, up for weeks at a time, at elevations over 30-35km. When working in the 90's at JPL in Southern California, I would occasionally have lunch with a guy responsible for launching huge skids of scientific equipment at Palastine, TX, at the National Balloon Facility. Palastine is convenient due to the large amount of helium produced as a waste product from the wells in the area. Palastine's accomplishments notwithstanding, Southern California is also home to cutting-edge balloon experimenters. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Walters