Ever take a red-eye flight?
It's just no fun flying for hours in the darkness, sitting in an airline seat not designed for restful sleep.
Now try to imagine flying all night and staying awake ON PURPOSE.
That's what happens aboard SOFIA,the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. Think of it as the INFRA red-eye.NASA runs SOFIA, a 747 jet modified with high-tech astronomy equipment.
Southern Oregon residents and skywatchers Robert Black and Dave Bloomsness recently spent some time on the plane; they join us for a debriefing.