Tag - sofia

NASA’s SOFIA Discovers Water on Sunlit Surface of Moon!

From NASA's website: "NASA’s SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) 747 Aircraft has confirmed, for the first time, water on the sunlit surface of the Moon. This discovery indicates that water may be distributed across the lunar surface, and not limited to cold, shadowed places. SOFIA has detected water molecules (H2O) in Clavius Crater, one of the largest craters visible from Earth, located in the Moon’s southern hemisphere. Previous observations of the Moon’s surface detected some form of hydrogen, but were...

NASA’s SOFIA Makes New Discoveries About Pluto’s Haze

NASA's SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) 747 Aircraft has made exciting new discoveries about the haze surrounding Pluto. From Shane McGlaun's article in Slashgear.com May 13, 2020: "Those observations show the thin haze surrounding Pluto is made of very small particles that remain in the atmosphere for prolonged periods rather than immediately falling to the surface. The data shows that the haze particles are actively replenished, which revises predictions of the fate of Pluto’s atmosphere as it moves into colder areas of...

NASA’s SOFIA Flying Obervatory Makes Amazing New Discovery!

NASA's SOFIA Flying Observatory has pinpointed the first type of molecule that formed in the universe after the Big Bang. The SOFIA telescope is housed on a Boeing 747-SP airplane which flies at up to 45,000 feet, where its observations are not impacted by interference from Earth's atmosphere. SOFIA returns to Earth after every flight, allowing scientists to regularly update the instrument with the latest technology. NASA chose Nova Electric to supply the rugged 400 Hz UPS Systems used on...