The flying observatory SOFIA was a cooperative project between NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). After over 900 flights, it was decommissioned.

Cologne

The SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) flying observatory, operated by German and American scientists, has ended its mission after more than a decade and 900 research flights. Housed in a modified Boeing 747SP, SOFIA was equipped with advanced infrared instruments that allowed it to observe phenomena in space not visible from the ground, such as the formation of stars hidden by dust and gas.

SOFIA's achievements include the first detection of water on the sunlit surface of the Moon and confirmation of helium hydride, the universe's first molecule after the Big Bang. Despite its scientific successes, the project was discontinued after funding was cut, with researchers expressing disappointment that SOFIA could not continue its planned work. Data analysis and archiving from the mission are ongoing, but future discoveries will rely on other observatories.

SOFIA flying observatory retires after 900 missions

What happened billions of years ago while the Earth was forming? Researchers from Germany and the U.S. on board a flying observatory called SOFIA searched for answers to questions about the distant past. It's really about where we come from, where our sun comes from, where our planetary system comes from. Everything we see in space is chemistry. We see elements. We see molecules. Stars have to live and die to create these heavy elements. In this sense, you could say we're all made of stardust. At first glance, the observatory looked pretty unspectacular. A Boeing 747SP that had been converted into a research lab. On board, German and American scientists. SOFIA was not a space vehicle. The plane returned to Earth every day, so there was always an opportunity to replace parts and optimize instruments. The rear section was able to accommodate a large telescope equipped with a range of infrared instruments. It's not easy to acquire steady images from a moving aircraft. Vibrations and turbulence were the same as in a normal aircraft, so image stabilization was SOFIA's greatest challenge and its greatest achievement. Far-infrared cameras made radiation visible that our unaided eyes can't detect, wavelengths normally absorbed by the atmosphere. To see how stars form, the plane had to soar to an altitude of 14,000 meters. Large, massive stars form, but you can't see it because they're hidden in a cloud of dust and gas. You can only see that in infrared. Suddenly you'll see red dots or a globe, things that not even the largest telescope on Earth could show us. Over more than a decade, SOFIA researchers studied magnetic fields in our home galaxy, the Milky Way, and also discovered new things about an old companion, the Moon. SOFIA found water for the first time on the Moon's sunlit surface, and the measurements haven't even yet been fully evaluated. That work is ongoing, and it was of course a sensation. It also found helium hydride, the first molecule in space to be created after the Big Bang. Since the 1970s, scientists had suspected that helium hydride ions were out there, which the infrared camera was now able to confirm. The SOFIA team also looked at ancient light, helping fill in gaps in our history of the universe. The universe can be described spatially, but also temporally. The further out we look in space, the further back we look in time towards the birth of the universe, and piece together how it all came to be. These things all have something to do with us. We are what we're made of, and those molecules and atoms in us all ultimately originated in stars. So it's pretty important stuff. But not important enough for NASA. When funding for the project was ended, SOFIA took its last flight in 2022. The instruments in the aircraft itself are now grounded for good. A bitter pill for the researchers to swallow. NASA shutting down the project in that way was a letdown. It could have run for another two years as planned. Instead, they just pulled the plug and went home. As a scientist myself, I have to say I find that disrespectful towards the scientists involved. Bernhard Schulz and his team are still backing up data, evaluating results and setting up archives. And they regret they can't do more. There's still lots we don't know, like how much hydrogen is out there, and how much it masses. SOFIA could have achieved a lot more. In the end, I guess it all came down to money. Ultimately, it was a political decision. Many mysteries remain out there in the universe, but other projects and telescopes will now have to solve them.

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Breakdown