Around 20:45 local time on September 28th, a Boeing 747SP with the registration N747NA,
adapted to hold a reflecting telescope for the Stratospheric Observatory and owned by NASA
performed its final flight ever for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). Seven hours and 58 minutes were spent on the flight.
leaving Palmdale International Airport (PMD) and circumnavigating the North Pacific Ocean.
The SOFIA project was successfully launched by the German Space Agency and NASA at the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR).
This telescope was utilised to study the infrared universe and keep track of activities like the emergence of brand-new stars and solar systems.
Development of the SOFIA mission started in 1996. In 2010, it made its debut in the air.