The Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., is now home to two large science aircraft, NASA's SOFIA observatory and a DC-8 science laboratory

The Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., is now home to two large science aircraft, NASA's SOFIA observatory and a DC-8 science laboratory.

The Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., is now home to two large science aircraft, NASA's SOFIA observatory and a DC-8 science laboratory.

Photographer NASA/Tom Tschida
Location AFRC
SOFIAStratospheric Observatory for Infrared AstronomyDAOFSite 9Dryden Aircraft Operations FacilityPalmdaleClipper LindberghGerman-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