Airborne Observatory Integrated by L-3 Completes First Flight from Waco, Texas Modification Center
(New York, April 26, 2007) -- L-3 Communications (NYSE: LLL) announced today that NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) completed its first test flight following extensive aircraft modification and telescope integration at L-3 Integrated Systems in Waco, Texas.
SOFIA is a Boeing 747SP, which was extensively modified to carry a 45,000-pound (20 metric ton), 98.4-inch (2.5-meter) diameter infrared telescope assembly provided by the German Aerospace Center, DLR. SOFIA maintains altitudes up to 45,000 feet (13.7 km), which is high above more than 99 percent of the Earth's water vapor - to capture infrared images and spectra that are not possible to capture using the largest ground-based telescopes.
L-3 performed the most dramatic physical modifications ever made to a 747 aircraft. This effort was conducted by L-3 without the involvement of the aircraft's original equipment manufacturer.
"SOFIA reflects the expertise that makes L-3 Integrated Systems the industry's most accomplished independent aircraft integrator," said Bob Drewes, Corporate Senior Vice President, and President and Chief Operating Officer of the L-3 Integrated Systems Group. "This observatory combines extensive aeronautical engineering and our major modification ability to produce a flying marvel."
The program was awarded by NASA in 1996 to a combined U.S. and German team. The first metal on the aircraft was cut by L-3 in 2000, as installation began on a reinforced, pressurized bulkhead that helped create a cavity in the rear of the aircraft where the telescope assembly was later installed. In addition to the aircraft structural modifications and the telescope assembly installation, major aircraft activities performed by L-3 included:
- Installation of an approximately 16-foot tall cavity door designed to open in flight to permit telescope observations;
- Installation of a complex liquid-nitrogen cooling system used to pre-cool the telescope cavity to match thermal conditions when the cavity door is opened at altitude;
- Performance of heavy depot-level maintenance and service bulletin incorporation on the 747SP, which flew in commercial service from 1977 to 1995.
"We are thrilled that SOFIA has taken to the air and congratulate L-3 on their accomplishment. We look forward to the day when SOFIA will become a world-class astronomical research facility," said Dr. Frederick A. Tarantino, President of Universities Space Research Association (USRA), SOFIA's science and mission operations contractor.
Source : L-3 Communications
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