Blog

The NASA/DLR (National Aeronautics and Space Administration/German Aerospace Center) Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) Boeing 747SP was a Pan Am Boeing 747SP delivered on May 20th 1977 (N536PA). It was christened Clipper Lindbergh until it was sold to United Airlines on February 13, 1986 (N145UA). It flew with United until October 27, 1997. By then, NASA was interested in buying a replacement for KAO (Kuiper Airborne Observatory C-141), and they bought it. Then, its first flight with NASA/DLR (by then, DLR was involved) was on December 1, 2010 (N747NA).

On September 31st, 2022, SOFIA flew its last mission and then on December 8th, 2022 NASA announced that SOFIA would go to Pima Air and Space Museum on December 13th, 2022. Now that SOFIA is retired, there are only three operators of this short jumbo jet configuration. The Boeing 747 is famously known as the Jumbo Jet and the 747SP is the shorter version. The three current operators of the 747SP as of November 2022 is Pratt and Whitney with 2 total and a Las Vegas company. SOFIA was rechristened on May 21, 2007 as "Clipper Lindbergh" by Charles Lindbergh's grandson. SOFIA's last mission was it's seventh and last trip to New Zealand.

SOFIA has made hundreds of groundbreaking finds in space. For example, SOFIA found water trapped underground by the North and South Poles on both Mars and the Moon, and was the highest satellite in the Earth's atmosphere. SOFIA discovered hundreds of solar systems, and several of the exoplanets within those theoretically could support human life. SOFIA also discovered many births of stars throughout the solar system.

Aircraft with the same mission as SOFIA