SOFIA Flight Planning and Execution

Leppik, K.; Bower, K.A.; Kaminski, C.; Trinh, Christopher; Civeit, T.; Kilsdonk, Tom

doi:10.1142/s225117171840010x

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Due to the track of this occultation being over water in the Atlantic, only SOFIA was capable of observing it. This was similar to the Pluto occultation which was observed over the Paci¯c in 2015 with a science°i ght departing from Christchurch (Leppik et al, 2018). That°ight not only supported the New Hor-izons°y-by of Pluto, but helped calibrate previous occultations of Pluto due to SOFIA observing the central°ash (Pasacho® et al, 2017;Person, 2016).…”

Section: Suitcase Deploymentssupporting

confidence: 75%

A Review of Science Ground Operations for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)

Ali

Alvarez

Cheng

et al. 2018

J. Astron. Instrum.

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The NASA Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is a 2.5 m telescope in a modi¯ed Boeing 747SP aircraft that is°own at high altitude to do unique astronomy in the infrared. SOFIA is a singular integration of aircraft operations, telescope design, and science instrumentation that delivers observational opportunities outside the capability of any other facility. The science ground operations are the transition and integration point of the science, aircraft, and telescope. We present the ground operations themselves and the tools used to prepare for mission success. Speci¯cally, we will discuss operations from science instrument delivery to aircraft operation and mission readiness. We will also provide a discussion of instrument life cycle including maintenance and repair, both before and after acceptance by the observatory as well as retirement. Included in that will be a description of the facilities and their development, an overview of the SOFIA telescope assembly simulator, our deployment capabilities, as well as an outlook to the future of novel science instrument support for SOFIA.

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Section: Suitcase Deploymentssupporting

confidence: 75%

A Review of Science Ground Operations for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)

Ali

Alvarez

Cheng

et al. 2018

J. Astron. Instrum.

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“…These observations represent a substantial improvement over the currently available water vapor information both in flight as well as post-flight. For SOFIA, predictions of the water vapor overburden at the aircraft's location and altitude during a flight are available from a model implemented in the flight planning software Leppik et al (2018). This provides only a statistical estimate without any measured parameters from the atmosphere to create a reliable forecast.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Probing the Atmospheric Precipitable Water Vapor with SOFIA, Part I, Measurements of the Water Vapor Overburden with FIFI-LS

Fischer

Iserlohe

Vacca

et al. 2021

PASP

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We report on the measurements of telluric water vapor made with the instrument FIFI-LS on SOFIA. Since November 2018, FIFI-LS has measured the water vapor overburden with the same measurement setup on each science flight with about 10 data points throughout the flight. This created a large sample of 469 measurements at different locations, flight altitudes and seasons. The paper describes the measurement principle in detail and provides some trend analysis on the 3 parameters. This presents the first systematic analysis with SOFIA based on in situ observations.

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“…In the course of any single science°ight, there are usually several science targets. More details on SOFIA's°ight, planning, from constraints and opportunities for optimization, are in this volume (Leppik et al, 2018).…”

Section: Observatory Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Overview of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy Since Full Operation Capability

Ennico

Becklin

et al. 2018

J. Astron. Instrum.

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The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a joint project between NASA and the German Aerospace Center DLR, provides access to observations of the infrared and sub-millimeter universe. As its development timeline is unique compared to all other NASA astrophysics missions, a milestone called the Full Operation Capability (FOC) was defined to identify the start of science operations. SOFIA reached this in February 2014. With a wide range of imagers, spectrometers and a new polarimeter, SOFIA provides unique scientific results that cannot be obtained with a ground-based facility and any spacecraft expected in the next decade. The airborne platform has continued to mature its mission systems as part of a planned spiral development approach, particularly with upgradable instrumentation that opens up new science directions for the Observatory. A third generation instrument is planned for commissioning in 2019. This paper summarizes the current state of the Observatory with emphasis on the science and instrumentation updates since FOC.

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SOFIA Flight Planning and Execution

Cited by 4 publications

References 18 publications

A Review of Science Ground Operations for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)

A Review of Science Ground Operations for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)

Probing the Atmospheric Precipitable Water Vapor with SOFIA, Part I, Measurements of the Water Vapor Overburden with FIFI-LS

An Overview of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy Since Full Operation Capability

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