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NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory: From Skyward Science to Collectible Aviation History
Discover the legacy of NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO), a modified C-141A Starlifter that advanced infrared astronomy for over 20 years. Learn how parts of this historic aircraft are now ...
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Model, Kuiper Airborne Observatory - Smithsonian Institution
It was named the Kuiper Airborne Observatory in memory one of the pioneers of infra-red planetary astronomy, Gerald P. Kuiper of the University of Arizona. The observatory was in operation for about ...
Jalopnik3y
NASA Is Retiring One Of The Last Stubby Boeing 747SPs In The Sky
The Kuiper Airborne Observatory served NASA from 1974 to 1995, discovering the rings of Uranus, evidence of a black hole in the galactic center of the Milky Way, and more. NASA.
Space.com2y
NASA's SOFIA observatory: the flying telescope | Space
In the 1990s, when SOFIA was proposed, a smaller flying infrared observatory, the Kuiper Airborne Observatory, named after Dutch-born astronomer Gerard Kuiper, had been doing a similar job for ...
Space.com13y
Touring SOFIA: NASA Opens Doors to Airborne Observatory
SOFIA is the successor to NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory, which was retired in 1995. Like Kuiper, SOFIA is optimized to observe in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum.
CNET17y
Flying telescope makes heavenly visit - CNET
Long-awaited--and long-delayed--airborne observatory called Sofia makes first trip to NASA Ames, which had been expected to be its home. Photos: Flying observatory's homecoming ...
Astronomy10y
How a flying telescope proved Pluto has an atmosphere
NASA’s current flying telescope, SOFIA, is parked next to its predecessor, the Kuiper Airborne Observatory, in 2008. NASA Ames/ Eric James . On June 29, ...
autoevolution1mon
NASA Ends the Deconstruction of the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter That Flew With a Telescope - autoevolution
The KAO came into the world as a replacement for the Convair 990 called the Galileo Observatory, which was destroyed in 1973 as a result of a mid-air collision. It was put together using the same ...
Wired11y
The Jet With a 17-Ton Telescope That NASA Uses as a Flying Observatory
The telescope on board is 10 times as sensitive and has triple the resolution of NASA’s Kuiper Airborne Observatory, originally launched in 1975 on a converted C-141 military cargo plane, and ...
Rochester Institute of Technology6y
RIT Plays Important Role in NASA's Airplane-observatory
A jet plane mounted with a powerful telescope will soon give astronomers a closer platform to the heavens. Scientists will fly the skies aboard NASA’s largest airborne observatory to capture and ...
Inverse1y
25 years on, NASA's flying telescope SOFIA is no more — what happens next? - Inverse
It would be NASA’s successor to its flying telescope, the Kuiper Airborne Observatory or KAO: an infrared telescope mounted in a Lockheed C-141A.