Episode 42: SOFIA – A Telescope on a Plane
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SOFIA's 100 Inch Diameter Telescope
Dana Backman is the Outreach Director for SOFIA – The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. Essentially, SOFIA is a modified 747SP with telescope in its fuselage. A joint project between NASA and the German Aerospace Center (NASA supplied the aircraft and the telescope was built in Germany), SOFIA is the largest airborne astronomical observatory that will allow astronomers to peer into the visible, infrared and sub-millimeter spectrum of space – above the majority of water vapor in the atmosphere. Dana talks with us about the aircraft, the mission, and some exciting opportunities for science teachers.
Links:
- SOFIA Science Center
- SOFIA (nasa.gov)
- SOFIA Mission (nasa.gov)
- SOFIA Image Gallery
- SOFIA Video Gallery
- 747 Flies With a Big Hole in its Fuselage…For Science (Wired)
- SOFIA: Exploring the Hidden Universe (short documentary video)
Direct download: LOL42.mp3
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February 10th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
[...] Dana Backman, the Outreach Director for SOFIA – The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy – has given an interview with Lab out loud about the project. (Dana, together with Larry Caroff, also happen to be my teachers of the astronomy and cosmology classes at Stanford Continuing Studies program). SOFIA is a modified 747 with a telescope on board. The airborne observatory will fly at high altitudes to look at the infrared radiation coming from all kinds of heavenly bodies. The infrared light is blocked by Earth’s atmosphere but at high altitudes about 80% of it makes it through. That’s where the telescope will operate. Here is the podcast. [...]