Goodbye SOFIA, Thanks for All the Discoveries

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SOFIA or The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy is coming to an end, but let's look back on some of the amazing discoveries of this flying telescope.
Hosted by: Hank Green (He/Him)
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www.space.com/38257-extreme-a...
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hu...
www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-par...
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/SO...
www.skyatnightmagazine.com/sp...
irtfweb.ifa.hawaii.edu/
www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press_k...
www.nasa.gov/feature/top-ten-...
www.nasa.gov/press-release/na...
www.seti.org/press-release/30...
oig.nasa.gov/docs/IG-14-022.pdf
www.nature.com/articles/d4158...
www.nature.com/articles/s4155...
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www.sofia.usra.edu/multimedia...
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• HIRMES: SOFIA's latest...
svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12673
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia12...
www.sofia.usra.edu/multimedia...
www.sofia.usra.edu/multimedia...
www.sofia.usra.edu/multimedia...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Опубликовано:

26 сен 2022

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Комментарии : 119

@quanti5 Год назад

Many years ago, I worked in the NASA Ames Research Center machine shop. One day I was asked to make a set of particularly large aluminum spacers with unusually tight tolerances. Later I found out they were bound for what would one day become SOFIA. It was probably the most high profile project I ever contributed to.

@TheShahart Год назад

Cool! Mind em asking how tight were they? Like 0.0005"+/- on diameters and thickness? Or even tighter? Any challenges machining the aluminum at tight tolerances compared to titanium or steel? ( assuming weight wasn't a consideration in their design requirements)

@quanti5 Год назад

@@TheShahart I was actually an intern at the time, so I wasn't really privy to any design requirements outside a single sheet drawing. It's been over a decade so I'm hazy on the exact numbers.The tolerances on the OD were something like +0.000/-0.002 and I think the thickness was +/- 0.0002. There was an ID too but it wasn't called out significantly. What made it unusual was these were like full roll of duct tape BIG spacers. 4 or 6 of them. Setup was a nightmare because I was using a four jaw chuck on a lathe and I was constantly bouncing between cuts and micrometer measurements.

@StariDido 3 месяца назад

U both believe in fake space by NASA psuedo science atheists CGI cartoons 😂

@kathleenfredette8818 Год назад

SOFIA also included educators on their missions which trickled back to inspire the next generation of scientists and thinkers.

@huntersamuels1458 Год назад

As someone who's worked with aircraft and has always loved them, it's sad to see such an impressive and unique aircraft go in such a manor. Thanks Sophia for all the lessions and discovers

@boredgrass Год назад

13000 meter is in the area where a pilot has to "navigate" extreme slim margins of speed and pitch to avoid stall! For that reason it is called the "coffin corner"...This kind of flying is very demanding and deserves a big thank you for the crew!

@wannabeMLGpro Год назад

That's cool to know thanks for sharing!

@Aviator27J Год назад

I don't think it was quite as bad up there for the 747 but yeah, the stall/overspeed margin is still something to watch for. Turbulence could throw them off for sure. I bet the dispatchers gave lots of good info to the pilots to keep them in smooth air. I know someone who dispatched NASA and other military flights (including AF1) so I'll have to ask if she ever worked SOFIA.

@speakingforboskone Год назад

@@Aviator27J SOFIA had to fly the plan filed in order to keep the telescope pointed the right way for each target, if it deviated for turbulence or weather, that meant the telescope wasn't observing. It was generally granted 20nm left and right of track to drift if needed in order to keep pointed the right direction.

@speakingforboskone Год назад

SOFIA often flew at 43kft rather than the 45kft ceiling of the SP for this reason. Going to 45kft did sometimes make a worthwhile difference in data quality, depending on the science being done.

@Aviator27J Год назад

I'd see SOFIA flying around North America and the Pacific some mornings when I got to work around 0500. It was always neat seeing it in the low to mid 40,000 feet range since I knew it was doing good science.

@jangschoen1019 Год назад

Gonna miss that special 747sp, what a shame. SOFIA's going to get a dignified retirement, right?

@thelostone6981 Год назад

It’s going to a farm upstate. 😂

@dannybrown5744 Год назад

@@thelostone6981 be cool if someone turned into a barn

@thelostone6981 Год назад

@@dannybrown5744 Most likely it will end up on Airbnb.

@y_fam_goeglyd Год назад

The first time I heard about SOFIA it was on a TV programme by Richard Hammond (I think. I can't remember any other series about weather I watched more than once that wasn't by him, but I do stand to be corrected). The episode was about storms, particularly thunderstorms. Until this flight, there was still a lot of debate about "sprites"; lightning going up from the cloud tops towards space. Frankly there wasn't even a consensus that they existed, though there were a lot of reports and images of flashing light above the clouds from space missions. That episode had them go up in SOFIA on a night where storms were predicted, and (again, IIRC - I am a tad fuzzy on the specific data) they flew for about 8 hours overnight. They managed to capture the IR images of sprites, and finally confirmed what we now know about them. It's always sad when one of these magnificent creations "dies". "All" it is is a bunch of technical bits and pieces, yet we imbue them with character, especially if they're given a human name (either named after someone or one made up from an acronym), and there's a sensation of watching a loved one die. It's why Hubble is still going and will until it can't operate anymore. The reaction to the news of its imminent demise mobilised the world's geekdom. Tis a shame that SOFIA won't be saved 🤷🏻‍♀️☹️.

@waitotong9590 Год назад

Farewell SOFIA! An interesting concept on a rare plane. Your contributions(albeit not a whole lot) will not be forgotten!

@Andymanperson13 Год назад

So long, and thanks for all the discoveries!

@AstroBound Год назад

SOFIA as pin of the month! make it happen!!

@stevenwilson5556 Год назад

I was so lucky I got to fly on a couple missions as an intern. RIP SOFIA!

@just_kos99 Год назад

Sad to hear SOFIA is being moth-balled. I remember the first time I saw a 747-SP. 747s are my favorite airplane, and I lived under the flight path of Seattle-Tacoma Intl Airport. My dad (who worked at Boeing) and I were walking home from the bus, and I looked up to see this truncated 747, lol! I said, "Look at that short little 747!" and dad chuckled and told me it was an SP, for "Special".

@Boomnock0011 Год назад

Love the show. Would love to see the bloopers too!

@julescaru8591 Год назад

Another interesting topic, presented well , sad to see that the money aspect has won again , thanks to the whole SOFIA team for the valuable work. All the best Jules

@MemphiStig Год назад

"A telescope that flies" sounds very steampunk, like it should be mounted atop an over-sized airship. It also sounds like a logistical nightmare. But it would be a really cool job. "I'm a pilot." "Oh? What do you fly?" "A telescope."😲

@jasondisbrow8035 Год назад

The pilots initially had no idea what the targets each night were all about, they just “drove the bus” as they were fond of saying to other pilots. But after enough late night red-eye pilots asked over ATC what they were looking at, they started to include a primer in the brief. :)

@jacksonstarky8288 Год назад

At the start of this video, I just assumed that SOFIA's retirement was because the JWST had made it redundant. I hope that NASA doesn't later regret this decision... possibly after a tantalizing glimpse of something yet to be found at the far end of the JWST's perceptive range.

@Bitchslapper316 Год назад

The next real replacements aren't going to be launched by NASA until at least the 2040's if at all. It is tentatively named "origins". It will be exciting though, it's supposed to go up in a project called "the great observatories 2" which is the successor to the great observatories program that brought us the 4 great telescopes. Chandra, Spitzer, Compton and Hubble. Webb was it's own thing and not part of a larger project like the above were. There is still a chance NASA will make a smaller one or another country will. I think the private sector will also be getting into the observatory business in the next few years, there is already a private company planning to send a rover to mars.

@innosam123 Год назад

Don’t blame NASA, blame the OIG for demanding NASA do it.

@jacksonstarky8288 Год назад

Behind every bad decision, there's always a bureaucrat, usually acting on the basis of "this is costing a lot of money without killing people in foreign countries, so we shouldn't be doing it."

@innosam123 Год назад

@@Bitchslapper316 For what business model? Remember B12? They gave up with a telescope for asteroid detection after running out of money. Plans are one thing. Execution is another.

@teresamobley Год назад

I've been on that plane and it was super cool. The teacher programs they did with SOFIA were incredible.

@viviangunsettcecco Год назад

✨thanks for your service!

@michaelg1915 Год назад

Hopefully the Udvar-Hazy Center can preserve SOFIA as a museum or perhaps one of the museums that NASA operates can take the burden. It would be a true shame to send the aircraft off to a scrap heap.

@Wolfie54545 Год назад

Was just there a month ago. Not enough room unfortunately. Unless they can make an extension, or hang up up?

@AaronShenghao Год назад

Was hoping NASA will continue their tradition of keep legendary planes flying... Goodbye Sofia.

@jellyacc Год назад

rip SOFIA you were a real one🕊

@MultiLeandrini Год назад

I didn't know helium could form bonds, I'm shocked

@thebloxxer22 Год назад

Helium Hydride (or Helonium) is the most reactive acid, followed by Fluroroantimonic Acid. It is so reactive that it can only exist in space.

@AlRoderick Год назад

It requires being ionized, the helium has to be stripped of an electron so being in the hot interstellar gas of the early universe is a good environment. It's theoretically possible for it to form in helium deposits that are exposed to ionizing radiation, and all the helium on Earth comes from radioactive decay so that'd be where you find it, but it would be created an atom at a time mixed in with normal helium, extremely hard to detect. In a molecule rich environment like the Earth it's going to lose its hydrogen fast because the hydrogen would rather be bonded with almost anything else. Helium hydride is allegedly a very powerful acid in an aqueous solution but it's tricky to get a lot of it together in one place.

@AifDaimon Год назад

@@thebloxxer22 we can't try forming it here on earth!? That's a major bummer; would've loved to pour it down the throats of both the Trump & Putin bloodlines

@davidroddini1512 Год назад

Well, I knew helium COULD form bonds. But I always thought it was more of a hermit. 😂

@chillsahoy2640 Год назад

So long, so long, so long, and thanks for the pics!

@jess53nz Год назад

Can't believe I'll never see her fly again. Spent the winter down here at Christchurch

@ritti.ritika Год назад

Thank You... Informative

@erichaynes7502 Год назад

The J. Crew shirt makes this video iconic!

@brendakrieger7000 Год назад

RIP🔭

@massimookissed1023 Год назад

At least NASA waited until JWST was up and running before retiring SOFIA. Earlier plans seemed to be about retiring SOFIA first, and I thought they should wait until its replacement was actually working. Although, at the rate JWST is getting damaged, they might need SOFIA again.

@waitotong9590 Год назад

Perhaps they can put a new and improved version of the infrared telescope into an Airbus Beluga or the new Beluga XL, heck or even the B747 Dreamlifter as a replacement.

@Bitchslapper316 Год назад

Why? The plane wasn't the issue.

@bwedesign Год назад

Possible future SciShow Space episode: It was mentioned that this telescope helped study what UV light does to molecules. Since this is an infrared telescope it wouldn't be observing the UV light directly, correct? Has a UV telescope ever been made? Is it even possible? And would there be a benefit to making one?

@Bitchslapper316 Год назад

Both SWIFT and Hubble can observe UV.

@BarbarosaAlexander Год назад

Helium- anything isn't something you hear often. Cool!

@marcocambray7725 Год назад

make it a museum

@marcocambray7725 Год назад

That way anyone can go see it

@crowguy506 Год назад

DLR should pay out NASA and keep Sofia flying. There’s no such thing as enough telescopes.

@raoulselten9480 Год назад

the south pole telescope looks like a grand piano :D

@lenabreijer1311 Год назад

Killed by bean counters

@joyl7842 Год назад

I do hope the telescope hardware on the plane is removed and stored someplace safe for future use!

@samwill7259 Год назад

🎶 "Thanks for the discoveries, even when they were so great~" 🎶

@dannybrown5744 Год назад

It would be so cool if I heard someone turned it into a barn or hotel...a bnb!!! Let me have it!

@stax6092 Год назад

Dang, oh well. Hopefully we get a better SOFIA in due time.

@StYxXx Год назад

My university is involved in SOFIA. So it's cancellation feels personal. It doesn't even cost that much. At least compared to other non-scientific projects. Humans rather pay for weapons than for knowledge...sad.

@Niinkai Год назад

Why not design an airship observatory? Its costs could be lower, and considering weather balloons can provide enough lift to take them high up in the sky, can't an airship do the same?

@AlRoderick Год назад

Hindenburg full of hydrogen had a lifting capacity around 23,000 lb of cargo, Sophia's telescope weighs 38,000 lb. So already you're designing an airship about twice the size of Hindenburg. When weather balloons go to high altitude they have to swell to enormous size as the outside pressure drops, I cannot imagine an airship being able to do the same even if it was non-rigid. Even if it did, the airship getting bigger means that it generates more drag, which means that it would no longer have enough engine power to fight back against the extremely fast high altitude winds, it would be uncontrollable. A benefit of mounting the telescope to a 747 is that the 747 is fast, one of the fastest heavy lift aircraft ever built, so it can reach any latitude in one flight. An airship observatory of some kind might not be completely without merit but it certainly wouldn't be a good replacement for SOFIA, it would be a lot slower restricted to a lower altitude and not be able to carry as big an instrument.

@Niinkai Год назад

@@AlRoderick Thanks, I was wondering about the drawbacks, since when designing SOFIA at least someone in NASA would've had the same idea.

@dlatua Год назад

Was expecting the pin

@digitalatom6433 Год назад

May seem strange, but... if it were a blimp, would it be cheaper? Or even still work?

@CitiesForTheFuture2030 Год назад

A telecope on a plane! Why hasn't there been a hollywood movie about this? Now THAT would have inspired even MORE scientists EVERYWHERE. And I would have concentrated more in science class...

@kohanrains776 Год назад

Pictures from planes are super easy and clear hank what???

@dannybrown5744 Год назад

Kind of like making a floating casino out of an aircraft carrier!!!!

@sofiamn_05 Год назад

👁️👄👁️ didn't know i was also a telescope, guess you learn new things everyday!

@sofia.eris.bauhaus Год назад

same here 😁. and a pretty cool telescope as well! would be cool if it still found some uses somewhere.

@emuguy-py2wq Год назад

cant believe you guys died 😢😢😢😢😥😥😰😨😰 keep it real yall 😱😱😶‍🌫️🥶🤘

@LawTaranis Год назад

SOFIA pin of the month in October? :D

@elliottmcollins Год назад

That's a reasonable reason to discontinue it, but god was it cool while it lasted.

@LeoAngora Год назад

I'm curious: why it had to be a plane? No blimp can go that high?

@TheStickCollector Год назад

It's sad, but everything gets replaced eventually

@StYxXx Год назад

But it doesn't get replaced... just cancelled :(

@MAFiA303 Год назад

nice pijamas

@stormboss57 Год назад

Bring back the talk show Hank

@ketterknetter2525 Год назад

@ SciShow Space Isn't the water in the crater? You said outside...

@prdoyle Год назад

SOFIA pin!

@tracewallace23 Год назад

I wonder if SOFIA could be reallocated (with appropriate funding) to just searching for asteroids future impactors🤷

@Jagzeplin Год назад

why couldnt they just mothball it? would it really cost that much (relative to nasas budget i mean) to just park it in a hanger somewhere till they can come up with an experiment for it?

@olfmombach260 Год назад

"It didn't produce enough papers" bruh

@roobscoob47 Год назад

Spank the Hank~

@brocanova Год назад

What will happen to the actual aircraft?

@osmosisjones4912 Год назад

I thought helium doesn't Bond. Not even with helium

@AlRoderick Год назад

It can if you strip away one of its electrons, which can happen if it's in the interstellar medium getting exposed to ionizing radiation from stars.

@hunterscott3000 Год назад

Well thats sad

@edwardskerl5774 Год назад

I'm "Far Red" optically... I am however not a telescope. I do have very good eyesight, but not good enough...

@edwardskerl5774 Год назад

I'm a ginget!

@justyce_yt Год назад

🤘😔

@ananyasahoo5161 Год назад

Don't want to burst bubble... but what fuelled SOFIA? No one bothered about pollution at 13.7 kms? And how does it ensure it's own pollutants hadn't hindered it's reading?