Imagine cutting retractable doors in the side of a 747 airliner, installing a 17-ton telescope, and flying to the stratosphere to solve one of astronomy's greatest puzzles. That's what NASA and the German Aerospace Center plan to do with a cutting-edge airborne observatory named SOFIA.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/19nov_sofia.htm?list1052465
