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Meeting	ACGS Committee Meeting 104 - Charlottesville - October 2009
Agenda Location	5 SUBCOMMITTEE E – FLIGHT, PROPULSION, AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEMS 5.2 Dryden SOFIA Infrared Observatory
Title	Dryden SOFIA Infrared Observatory
Presenter	Ulrich Lampater
Affiliation	NASA Dryden
Available Downloads*	presentation
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Abstract	The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is an airborne observatory that will study the universe in the visible, infrared and sub millimeter range of the electromagnetic spectrum. In the rear part of its fuselage a Boeing 747SP aircraft carries a 2.5 m telescope designed to research a wide range of astronomical objects. SOFIA is a joint program of NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). First science measurements are scheduled for 2010. The main optical elements of the telescope are located in a cavity, which has a port with a sliding door that is opened during science missions, thus exposing the telescope to the cold ambient atmosphere and to the aerodynamic and aero]acoustic loads encountered in an open port cavity at altitudes above 40,000 ft and cruising speeds of Mach 0.85. The harsh cavity environment and inertial aircraft loads constitute significant disturbance sources that excite the telescope structure both in the rigid and flexible body regime. At the same time the required image quality is very high for successful astronomical observations. This leads to high demands on the telescopes pointing stability, which needs to be 1 arcescond rms or better in the focal plane. This challenging requirement is the driving factor in the design of the telescopes pointing and control system. The presentation starts with an overview of the SOFIA program, followed by an outline of the telescope system. The main focus is on the telescope pointing and control system design, its current status and ground and in]flight tests that are being performed to achieve the pointing stability requirements.