Sofia
Sofia is the Stratospheric Observatory
for Infrared Astronomy, which is being funded by NASA and the German space
agency. This will be an airborne observatory equipped with a 2.5m telescope
on a Boeing 747 aircraft. Topics which will be the focus of study for Sophia
include star formation, proto-planetary disk environments, origin of biogenic
material, structure of planetary atmospheres, rings and comets, and a study
of the center of the Milky Way.
Mission Timeline
IRTF Mission Support
- Extensive instrumentation development support
- Developing target lists
- Complementary wavelength coverage
- Follow-up observations
Click here to return to the NASA / IRTF
Mission support homepage.
Last modified: Mar 29, 1998