NASA's SOFIA Flying Telescope May Be Mothballed This Year

NASA's SOFIA Flying Telescope May Be Mothballed This Year

A flying astronomical observatory will be grounded later this year unless outside funding can be found for the project, NASA officials announced Tuesday (March 4).

The White House's 2015 federal budget request, which was released Tuesday, slashes funding for the space agency's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a modified Boeing 747 aircraft that scans the heavens using an 8.2-foot-wide (2.5 meters) telescope.
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NASA already partners with one international organization on the SOFIA mission— the German Aerospace Center, whose German acronym is DLR. NASA chief Charles Bolden has talked to his DLR counterpart about the situation, Worden said.

"They are concerned," Worden said of DLR officials. "They've agreed to work with us to see if there's a way forward."
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The 2015 budget request sets aside $9 million for SOFIA, Worden said. It's unclear if that will be enough to develop a "mothball plan," which NASA and the DLR aim to draw up over the coming months, figuring out such details as where to store the aircraft and how much it will cost to do so.

Even if SOFIA does get mothballed, it may take to the skies again someday. The plan would be to store the aircraft with the hope of flying it again once additional funding can be procured, Worden said.
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