Ground crewmen shove the more than two-ton SOFIA primary mirror assembly in its transport crate into a C-17's cavernous cargo bay for shipment to NASA Ames
Technicians at NASA's Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., loaded the German-built primary mirror assembly of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, onto an Air Force C-17 for shipment to NASA's Ames Research Center on May 1, 2008. In preparation for the final finish coating of the mirror, the more than two-ton mirror assembly had been removed from its cavity in the rear fuselage of the highly modified SOFIA Boeing 747SP two weeks earlier. After arrival at NASA Ames at Moffett Field near Mountain View, Calif., the mirror would receive its aluminized finish coating before being re-installed in the SOFIA aircraft.
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Details
NASA ID
ED08-0110-22
Date Created
May 1, 2008
Center
AFRC
Media Type
image
Photographer
NASA/Tony Landis
Location
AFRC
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