![]() GREAT a high-resolution spectrometer had just been swapped onto SOFIA, so we would use this leg to point southwest at Mars, a known target that could be used to properly align the instrument for the remainder of its flights during this rotation.In the next leg, wed turn southward and point the telescope toward the evolved star U Orionis. Wed begin with a short leg as we flew away from the coast and out over the Pacific, during which the door would open and the telescope would be initialized.During our next, 130-minute leg, we would be roughly paralleling Californias coastline, heading as far north as the Oregon border. As we listened in on our headsets to the chatter between the various team members, Randolf acted as my SOFIA translator, clarifying what was happening and what we could expect.Screen capture from of our flight path for the night.Theres Science to Be Done!We would be observing with the German Receiver for Astronomy at Terahertz Frequencies (GREAT) instrument, and the goals for the night were clearly laid out. Ive never taken off facing backwards before I was grateful for the shoulder harness that kept me securely in my seat!Onboard as an invited science writer, I had the great fortune of multiple guides on my flight in addition to communication manager Nicholas Veronico, science outreach lead Randolf Klein flew with me that evening. The strangeness of the steep ascent was intensified by my seat: Id been offered a spot at a console in front of a panel of computers, facing the tail of the plane. We were aboard SOFIA the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy and we were getting ready for a night of flying through the sky, doing infrared astronomy from the stratosphere.Auspicious BeginningsTakeoff was surprisingly quick: a short taxi and rapid climb into the air. At the rear of the plane is the solid bulkhead separating the telescope cavity the GREAT instrument is visible just in front of this, mounted on the back of the telescope. The mission directors sit at the next set of consoles. The educator consoles in the foreground allow guests to follow along with the observations. All of us were bundled up against the slow chill of the 60F cabin and wearing communication headsets.SOFIAs cabin, facing the rear of the plane. The instrument currently mounted on the telescope was sensitive to potential leaked radiation from the microwave no one wanted to be that guywhose nuked burrito ruined the nights data.My travel companions were another indicator that this was no normal flight: there were only 26 other people aboard, most of whom were dressed in flight jumpsuits adorned with mission patches. We each brought our own snacks, and we would be eating them cold the microwave perched above the mini-fridge was off-limits tonight. ![]() ![]() It was 6 pm and I was boarding a plane for a 10-hour flight but there were plenty of signs that this wasnt your typical redeye.For starters, Id completed rigorous safety training earlier that day that included instructions on how to rappel down from the escape hatch of the cockpit.Another sign was the catering (or lack thereof): no little bags of peanuts or lukewarm trays of airplane food. This week were taking a look at that flight, as well as some of the recent science the observatory produced and published in an ApJ Letters Focus Issue.The SOFIA team and a handful of invited guests board the plane before a night in the stratosphere. In December, AAS Nova Editor Susanna Kohler had the opportunity to fly aboard the NASA/DLR Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)with the German Receiver for Astronomy at Terahertz Frequencies (GREAT) instrument.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |