The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is a joint German-US space science project. Carrying a 2.5-metre telescope inside a modified Boeing 747SP, the airborne observatory performs astronomical observations in the infrared and submillimetre wavelengths, high above the disturbance of Earth's atmosphere.
'Encounter' a satellite in orbit, view the Moon and the Rhine Valley in 3D, board SOFIA, the airborne observatory, or visit the wind tunnel or astronaut training facility to experience the extreme conditions to which materials and people are exposed in space – these are just a few of the many space-related activities that DLR in Cologne will make available to the general public on 18 September 2011.
During the night of 14 to 15 July 2011, two German teachers flew on board the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA, for the first time. Wolfgang Viesser from the Christoph-Probst Gymnasium in Munich and Jörg Trebs from the Thomas-Mann Oberschule in Berlin were selected to join a team from the German SOFIA Institute (DSI), the University of Stuttgart and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) to experience first-hand precisely how 'live' research on SOFIA is conducted at an altitude of 14 kilometres.