Thousands of NASA Ames employees and their families toured NASA's SOFIA flying observatory during its first visit to NASA Ames Research Center, Jan. 14, 2008.

NASA's SOFIA airborne observatory taxis past Hangar 1, the 1930s-era dirigible hangar at Moffett Field, during its first visit to NASA Ames Research Center.

The flight crew of NASA's SOFIA airborne observatory includes (from left), flight engineer Marty Trout and pilots Bill Brockett and Frank Batteas.

The flight crew of NASA's SOFIA airborne observatory and DLR telescope engineers who operated the system during its visit to NASA Ames Research Center on Jan. 14, 2008 included (from left), DLR telescope engineer Ulli Lampater, flight engineer Marty Trout, pilot Bill Brockett, telescope engineer Andres Reinacher and pilot Frank Batteas.

NASA's new SOFIA observatory shared the ramp with its predecessor, the now-retired Kuiper Airborne Observatory, during open house at NASA Ames Research Center.

NASA's now-retired Kuiper Airborne Observatory shared the limelight with its successor, the SOFIA observatory, during an open house at Ames Research Center.

NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy touches down at Moffett Field, Calif., for its first visit to NASA Ames Research Center, Jan. 14, 2008.

NASA's DC-8 Flying Laboratory taxis up to the ramp at Sal Island's Amilcar Cabral International Airport after a science flight for the NAMMA mission. (Ames photo # ACD06-0135-035)

A test block of Avcoat undergoes heat pulse testing inside an arc jet test chamber at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California. The test article, configured with both permeable (upper) and non-permeable (lower) Avcoat sections for comparison, helped to confirm understanding of the root cause of the loss of charred Avcoat material that engineers saw on the Orion spacecraft after the Artemis I test flight beyond the Moon.