On Saturday, 20-July 2019 NASA, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and Christchurch Airport facilitated an open day for the public to access the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy platform on its 2019 deployment to the Southern Hemisphere.

SOFIA uses a converted an ex-Pan Am Boeing 747SP airframe to allow a 2.7 metre reflecting telescope access to the sky through a door in the fuselage. The stabalised telescope can hold a laser focused on a coin 500km away. The 747 is based at Palmdale, CA.

More info: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/SO...

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