SOFIA Education and Public Outreach

The Astronomical Society of the Pacific, in partnership with the SETI Institute has been selected to conduct the Education and Public Outreach Program for SOFIA - the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy.

SOFIA is NASA's next-generation airborne observatory. SOFIA will feature a 2.5-meter telescope mounted in a highly-modified Boeing 747SP. It will operate out of NASA's Ames Research Center in the San Francisco Bay Area, taking astronomers to an altitude of about 41,000 feet approximately four nights per week. From this vantage point above 99% of the infrared-absorbing atmospheric water vapor, SOFIA will help study many astronomical problems that are very difficult to study from ground-based observatories, including the nature of galactic black holes, the evolution of galaxies, the chemical composition of interstellar gas clouds, complex molecules in comets, and how stars and solar systems form.

The education and public outreach activities being developed by the ASP and the SETI Institute include programs for K-12 teachers, informal educators, college teachers, journalists, and the general public. Approximately 200 educators per year will have the opportunity to fly aboard SOFIA, interacting with working astronomers and seeing the process of scientific research close up. Other education programs to be implemented after SOFIA operations begin include teacher/astronomer educational partnerships, classroom activities, interactive web-based activities, and live webcasts.

Click here to visit the SOFIA web site.

Privacy & Legal Statements | Site Index | Contact Us

Copyright ©2001-2008 Astronomical Society of the Pacific