Kia ora SOFIA – Airborne observatory welcomed in New Zealand

DLR German Aerospace Center
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Kia ora SOFIA – Airborne observatory welcomed in New Zealand - The joint DLR/NASA observatory will use three instruments to investigate the southern skies


Kia ora is how the Maori, New Zealand's indigenous people, traditionally welcome their guests – even when said guest is a flying observatory. At 01:05 Central European Summer Time (11:05 local time) on 23 June 2017, SOFIA was greeted with Kia ora when it touched 'down under' at Christchurch Airport. The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) – a joint project of the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) – will conduct 25 observation flights over several weeks until 10 August 2017 to take a close look at the southern skies. The first scientific flight of this year's campaign – its fourth in New Zealand – will take place on 26 June.



Full article with images: http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10081/151_read-22953/year-all/#/gallery/27300


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