A technician examines the instrument mounting structure and bulkhead of the German-built infrared telescope installed in NASA's SOFIA airborne observatory.
SOFIAfirst flightStratospheric Observatory for Infrared AstronomyGerman-built 100-inch 2 5 meter diameter infrared telescope20 tonshighly-modified Boeing 747SP aircraftDLR Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt German AerospaceL-3 Communications Integrated SystemsUniversities Space Research AssociationUSRADeutsches SOFIA InstitutDSI