News Archive / Tagged: SOFIA

• Amount of water on the Moon varies by location and time of day

  Laurel KornfeldFebruary 6th, 2021

  Two Earth-based studies confirm water molecules are present on the Moon, but amounts vary depending on location and time of day, Casey Honniball of NASA.

• SOFIA data sheds new light on endurance of Pluto’s atmosphere

  Laurel KornfeldJune 1st, 2020

  Data captured by the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), an airborne observatory that studied Pluto’s atmospheric hazes just two weeks before New Horizons‘ 2015 flyby, indicates the hazes in Pluto’s atmosphere are regularly replenished.

• Observations indicate comets may have brought water to Earth

  Laurel KornfeldMay 27th, 2019

  Observations of Comet Wirtanen by the world's largest airborne observatory support the notion that comets may have delivered water to Earth.

• NASA Ames hosts event focusing on research and innovations

  Jim SharkeyJuly 20th, 2018

  MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. — NASA's Ames Research Center recently hosted a public event, titled "Silicon Valley Innovations: From the Earth to the moon and Mars," that focused on the center's research contributions to the space agency's exploration missions.

• Testing begins on a new instrument to be added to NASA’s flying observatory

  Britt RawcliffeJune 5th, 2014

  NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is getting outfitted with a new instrument which is set to provide astronomers and scientists with observations only possible from the sky. The high-resolution, mid-infrared spectrograph, called the Echelon-Cross-Echelle Spectrograph (EXES), began testing on the nights of April 7 and 9, according to Matthew Richter, leader of the […]

• House Appropriations Committee raises NASA budget

  Collin SkocikMay 10th, 2014

  On Thursday, May 8th, 2014, the House Appropriations Committee voted to give NASA $19.9 billion for FY 2015. This was about $439 million more than the White House had asked for. The Committee criticized President Obama for consistently asking for less money than what was needed to meet the space agency’s goals. A refrain which has been […]

• Choices: NASA FY 2015 budget – ISS, Russia, SLS, Commercial Crew, SOFIA

  Jason RhianMarch 5th, 2014

  A teleconference was held on March 4, 2014, with representatives from NASA who went over the various aspects of the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Proposal. During which the turmoil in the Crimea, the asteroid retrieval mission, Dennis Tito’s request for an SLS and Orion for his Inspiration Mars effort, and the end of SOFIA were all […]

• NASA Observatory Selects Educator Teams for 2014 Science Flights

  Press ReleaseJanuary 10th, 2014

  NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, will become a flying classroom for teachers during research flights in the next few months.

• NASA SOFIA targets Comet ISON

  Jim SharkeyNovember 22nd, 2013

  NASA’s SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) recently made a flight to observe “targets of opportunity” including Comet ISON. The nearly 10 hour flight was SOFIA’s  second chance to study a comet, having previously observed Comet Hartley 2 in 2010.