Media Opportunity With NASA's Sofia During Washington Stopover

[NASA News <hqnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Sept. 16, 2011

Trent J. Perrotto 
Headquarters, Washington                                    
202-358-0321 
trent.j.perrotto@xxxxxxxx 
MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-197

MEDIA OPPORTUNITY WITH NASA'S SOFIA DURING WASHINGTON STOPOVER

WASHINGTON -- NASA is inviting journalists to tour and learn more 
about the world's largest airborne astronomical observatory on 
Thursday, Sept. 22, from 12 to 2 p.m. EDT at Andrews Air Force Base, 
Md. 

NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a 
highly modified Boeing 747SP aircraft fitted with a 100 inch (2.5 
meter) diameter telescope, is making a rare appearance on the East 
Coast after a deployment to Germany. Media will hear from NASA Deputy 
Administrator Lori Garver, Leland Melvin, former astronaut and NASA 
associate administrator for Education, and Paul Hertz, NASA SOFIA 
program scientist, from 12 to 12:30 p.m. before touring the aircraft. 


Hundreds of children from military families also will be on-site to 
tour the aircraft, visit NASA exhibits, and speak with scientists. 
SOFIA's Washington-area stopover is part of the White House's 
"Joining Forces" initiative to give service members and their 
families opportunities they have earned. NASA works to inspire 
interest in science, technology, engineering and math education and 
careers among youth. 

To attend, journalists must contact Trent Perrotto at 
trent.j.perrotto@xxxxxxxx or 202-358-0321 by 12 p.m. EDT on 
Wednesday, Sept. 21, for logistics. To allow time for check-in and 
transportation to the aircraft hangar, news media representatives 
will need to arrive at the base at 11 a.m. 

SOFIA analyzes infrared light to study the formation of stars and 
planets; chemistry of interstellar gases; composition of comets, 
asteroids and planets; and supermassive black holes at the center of 
galaxies. Infrared observations are optimal for studying 
low-temperature objects in space such as the raw materials for star 
and planet formation and for seeing through interstellar dust clouds 
that block light at visible wavelengths. 

SOFIA is a joint program between NASA and DLR in Bonn, Germany. The 
SOFIA program is managed at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in 
Edwards, Calif. The aircraft is based at the Dryden Aircraft 
Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif. NASA's Ames Research Center 
in Moffett Field, Calif., manages the SOFIA science and mission 
operations in cooperation with the Universities Space Research 
Association in Columbia, Md., and Deutsches SOFIA Institut in 
Stuttgart, Germany. 

For more information about SOFIA, visit: 



http://www.nasa.gov/sofia 

	
-end-



To subscribe to the list, send a message to: 
hqnews-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To remove your address from the list, send a message to:
hqnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx