A NASA-led team has started work on a mock-up of a planned advanced airborne space observatory, using sections of a scrapped Boeing 747SP. The team aims to perfect the design for the telescope installation, fuselage fairing and external door assembly.
The Section 46 aft fuselage section to be used for the mock-up has been transported to Raytheon Systems' plant in Waco, Texas, where the team is scheduled to "-cut the hole" for the telescope, according to NASA project manager Chris Wiltsee.
Modification work on the actual Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) aircraft is not expected to begin until September 1999.
The SOFIA will use a former United Airlines 747SP, modified by a team of engineers from NASA, Raytheon Systems, United Airlines, the United Space Research Association, as well as the German space agency. The observatory is scheduled to become operational in 2001 .
Source: Flight International