
Light from the hangar illuminates the aircraft ramp at NASA’s Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., as the telescope…

NASA’s SOFIA flying observatory undergoes nighttime characterization testing of its infrared telescope at the Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale,…

NASA’s DC-8 flying laboratory lifts off the runway at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., on its first flight…

A NASA technician directs loading of the crated SOFIA primary mirror assembly into a C-17 for shipment to NASA Ames…

Ground crewmen shove the more than two-ton SOFIA primary mirror assembly in its transport crate into a C-17’s cavernous cargo…

A ground crewman signals the flight crew of NASA’s SOFIA flying observatory to stop as other crewmen head to their…

SOFIA 747 being towed into Hangar 703 at the Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, CA. Photo courtesy John Torres.

A ground crewman signals the flight crew of NASA’s SOFIA flying observatory to stop as other crewmen head to their…

Members of the SOFIA crew disembark from the aircraft at its new home inside of Hangar 703 at the Dryden…