by Stuart Ryder (AAO)

Abstract. Earlier this year I had the rare opportunity to fly on NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a Boeing 747 with a 2.5m telescope that flies above 40,000 ft and most of the atmospheric water vapour that absorbs far-infrared radiation. In this talk I will outline what it took to get SOFIA off the ground, and give an inside look at what observing with the world’s only flying telescope is like.

Image credit: NASA