The Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is an 80/20 project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). SOFIA is based on a modified Boeing 747SP aircraft carrying a reflecting telescope with an effective diameter of 2.5 meters.
The aircraft is based at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale, California, USA.
The SOFIA Program Office is at NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, USA. It manages SOFIA's science and mission operations in cooperation with the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and the German SOFIA Institute (DSI, University of Stuttgart).
SOFIA Legacy Programs (SLP), aimed at generating astronomical data of significant value to the astronomical community by yielding results addressing specific science goals as well as providing a rich archival data set for future analysis.
The purpose of the SOFIA Legacy Program category is to encourage and enable larger science programs with well-defined goals that will lead to significant advances in their fields of study. To enable such programs, an appropriate amount of observing time and resources will be made available.
