Sofia goes to the Pima Air and Space Museum

[Duggy009]

NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) aircraft flies over the flightline at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., Dec. 13, 2022. The SOFIA aircraft is a Boeing 747SP jetliner modified to carry a reflecting telescope. It allowed astronomers to study the solar system and beyond in ways that are not possible with ground-based telescopes.
The SOFIA made it's final flight from NASA's Armstrong Flight Reserarch Center in Palmdale, California, to DM and is scheduled to be displayed at the Pima Air and Space Museum January 2023.
(U.S. Air Force photos by Staff Sgt. Alex Miller)

[Mark Sampson]

That's great. Yesterday I saw it on final for Davis-Monthan (just a glimpse, I was sitting in traffic) and wondered what it was... will be fascinating to see it up close and personal.

[JohnB]

A nice addition to the Pima airliner collection.
Is this the only SP preserved?

And I'll guess that Pima is the only museum with two 747s in its collection...this and the GE engine testbed.

[sandiego89]

Is this the only SP preserved?

And I'll guess that Pima is the only museum with two 747s in its collection...this and the GE engine testbed.

Nope, SP ZS-SPC is preserved at the museum in Rand South Africa, and they have a "regular" 747 as well.

Iran also has a 747 on display, and a few SP's parked/stored nearby, but the SP is not really on display.

[lucky52]

I wonder if that John Webb telescope put it out of business?

[steve dickey]

I don't remember if it was posted on here or not but they also recently obtained a F-117.

[lucky52]

They ought to sell "Sophia" .Keep her flying.

[ZRX61]

I wonder if that John Webb telescope put it out of business?

The budget for it was cut before the Webb was launched. It used to fly over my house just about every time it flew out of Palmdirt. One of those aircraft ya knew just by the sound without looking up.

[dusttinbound]

I like the fact that in the last picture you can see NASA kept the plane's name of Clipper Lindbergh when it was in service with Pan Am.

[sandiego89]

They ought to sell "Sophia" .Keep her flying.

To whom? Early generation (and some newer ones) 747's are rapidly disappearing, and she has been so heavily modified she is of no use for passengers or cargo. She had a massive pressure bulkhead installed just aft the wing and the entire rear has the massive support structure for the telescope, not to mention a gaping hole and door on the side.

I just read an article on her and a recent study cited the high costs, with an annual budget of around $85 million for the aircraft (which is on par with the Hubble telescope) the costs could not justify the "production" and the number of papers generated from the flights, so it was decided to retire her only @10 years into her expected 20 year program. The science teams looked at the number of citations and papers generated from SOFIA and they paled in comparison to Hubble and other programs, like only 25% of the return. Seems the community values papers and citations- a simple return on investment it seems. Gotta imagine the data is interesting to only a small set of folks, and I don't think many of use subscribe to "sub-atomic particles, and interplanar physics" quarterly.....