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SOFIA eNewsletter for Scientists

v16 January 24, 2007

This sixteenth SOFIA Electronic Newsletter to the astronomical community describes recent programmatic developments and significant progress on the aircraft system. Please email comments and/or inquiries to sofia@sofia.usra.edu.

Regards and best wishes,

PROGRAMMATIC DEVELOPMENTS

Administrator Michael Griffin announced on 6 July 2006 that NASA planned to complete SOFIA development (see SOFIA Newsletter V15). At the subsequent recommendation of Dr. Mary Cleave, Associate Adminstrator for the Science Mission Directorate (SMD), NASA's Program Management Council agreed to transfer responsibility for the program completion from NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) to NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) located at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California. The program manager at DFRC is Mr. Bob Meyer. He has formed a "Platform Project" at DFRC which will be responsible for completing integration and flight-testing of the observatory, and a "Science Project" at ARC which will complete operations planning and continue management of the nine first-generation science instruments. Experienced ARC personnel are also assisting with the Platform Project. NASA SMD is planning a Science and Mission Operations Review for early ‘07.

DFRC will manage a new contract with L-3 Communications (in Waco Texas) for the completion of the aircraft, and is replacing FAA certification of the observatory with NASA/DFRC safety procedures. The Universities Space Research Association (USRA) staff at ARC will remain under a new contract with ARC to complete science-related preparations for operations. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Deutsches SOFIA Institut (DSI) at the University of Stuttgart will continue support for telescope maintenance plus science and mission operations.  A Memorandum of Understanding between DLR and NASA has been signed by both agencies to assure their collaboration on SOFIA for the next ten years.

At the present time, the program is conducting two major scheduling activities. The first is finalizing the schedule to first flight this spring as discussed below. The second is scheduling all the tasks required to get to first science. DFRC and ARC are working together with all their contractors and the DLR/DSI to schedule first demonstration science as well as first community science with SOFIA. The current schedule shows demonstration science in 2009, while first community science with SOFIA would occur in 2010. The team is also working on the schedule to full operations. This date is even more uncertain, but is expected to be about three years after first community science begins. Efforts are being made to reduce the time to reach these milestones.

AIRCRAFT DEVELOPMENTS

Last August the SOFIA aircraft taxied under its own power for the first time since 1997. Low-speed taxi tests were done, as well as full power engine run-ups. Boeing personnel completed upgrades to a critical, original bulkhead in the tail. The plane was painted in late September, with registered "tail number" N747NA. It is pictured in the AAS Calendar for November 2007 - a beautiful sight! Pictures are also available on our website. Principal efforts remaining before first flight include completion of ~250 "routine" aircraft maintenance items, installation of some safety monitoring and flight-test systems, and safety and flight readiness reviews. The plane is expected to fly from Waco to DFRC soon after it is declared airworthy, sometime in spring 2007. The planned test flight program and completion of integration will then begin at DFRC. Remaining integration tasks include installation of the cavity insulation, modification and verification of the cavity environmental control system, adjustments to the cavity door system and installation of its controller, completion and installation of mission control and communications systems, modification of the telescope hard stops, and coating of the primary mirror.

SCIENCE PROGRAM INFORMATION

Please contact Dana Backman (dbackman@sofia.usra.edu) if your institution would like a scientific colloquium - including information on SOFIA's capabilities and future observing opportunities - by a member of SOFIA's science staff.

Two articles containing general information for astronomers about the SOFIA program are available as PDF files below:

• Becklin, Tielens, & Callis 2007
• Erickson 2004

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Page Last Updated: January 24, 2007