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@fredashay

Жыл бұрын

Really? NASA wants to use aircraft to look at rings around my anus?!?!

@TheMatsushitaMan

Жыл бұрын

NordVPN is one of the worst, most misleading VPNs. First they spam their ads everywhere on KZread. Second, any VPN can bypass region locks on content. Third, even without a VPN hackers cannot freely "access your personal data" like what's being shown at 4:42

@fredashay

Жыл бұрын

@@TheMatsushitaMan I've said much the same thing on other channels. I don't object to content creators seeking sponsors. But why is it always the worst one of any type? Raycon Ear buds -- the absolute worst brand of ear buds. Raid Shadow Legends -- microtransaction hell. And Nord VPN -- the worst and least trustworthy of all the VPNs. And the list goes on...

@TheMatsushitaMan

Жыл бұрын

@@fredashay All because of the monetary gain

@Jerryberry172

Жыл бұрын

I just saw this plane flying three weeks ago at the Edward’s Airforce Base airshow. Crazy how large the SP is but also how small it is compared to a -400 or -800. Awesome to see you tell your audience about this airplane. It was flying on October 14th,15th,and 16th. They stated she still will be used for science.

Thank you @Mentor Pilot for coving this because my dad had a hand on making this happen and he helped with installing the door of the telescope and I AM GLAD that it is going to a museum in California do that I can actually see what my dad actually worked on ;)

@randommadness1021

Жыл бұрын

Nice one mate.

@MentourNow

Жыл бұрын

Thank your dad from all of us! 💕

@davedarling4316

Жыл бұрын

Very cool! I worked with a number of people who went on to work on SOFIA, including one of the main test pilots.

@mgscheue

Жыл бұрын

How cool!

@Andro93010

Жыл бұрын

Sheesh

Cool to see how the telescope is stabilized at 9:59. Keep in mind: The telescope stands perfectly stil. It's the airplane around that is shaking in flight.

@nitehawk86

Жыл бұрын

It's like me when I go out observing. I drink so much caffeine to stay up late that I am shaking just like that. Need a very solid telescope mount to keep me from shaking it.

@jaalcaid

Жыл бұрын

@@yukonstriker1703 it starts with c too

@vbscript2

Жыл бұрын

It's worth noting that the shaking isn't nearly as bad up there as what you're probably used to on regular commercial flights. These missions are flying around 10,000 feet higher than normal commercial flights and there's very little weather up there. Aside from the tops of very large thunderstorms, weather happens almost entirely in the troposphere, which these missions fly above. There would still be some shaking from the engines and aerodynamic forces induced by the aircraft itself, but those would be quite minor compared to turbulence from weather. The lack of water vapor mentioned in the video, in addition to causing less infrared interference, also means that there is essentially no convection at all up there.

I'm an astronomer, sometimes glider pilot, and an appreciator of aviation engineering. What more can I say, other than that was very enjoyable watching. Ta! 😁😁😁

@MentourNow

Жыл бұрын

That makes me happy to hear!

@mohamaddanialothman9112

Жыл бұрын

Me too, except for the glider pilot. 😆 This video has to be my number 1 favourite video.

@JamesHawkeYouTube

Жыл бұрын

Any real astronomer or engineer would know that a telescope could never maintain a fix on a tiny distant object from a moving vehicle. People are so stupid these days.

@pompeymonkey3271

Жыл бұрын

@@JamesHawkeKZread Indeed they are! Also uneducated! :)

@mohamaddanialothman9112

Жыл бұрын

@@JamesHawkeKZread any "real" astronomer also would know that space telescopes take measurements also while moving. Even satellites in GSO are moving every second.

I actually live in Palmdale (where the SOFIA is based) - my house is actually just off the extended centerline of runway 7/25, so several planes that take off and land from there pass almost directly overhead at low altitude. Because of this, I've actually had the privilege of seeing SOFIA a couple times as it approached for landing.

@garyb6219

Жыл бұрын

That's actually pretty cool.

@BogeyTheBear

Жыл бұрын

I work the second shift in Plant 42 so I've often seen SOFIA taking off for a mission during sunset.

@xminusone1

Жыл бұрын

That's great. Do you use a scanner to hear the pilot and atc? I do sometimes and it's quite interesting.

@gl3nnium

Жыл бұрын

I live in Christchurch, New Zealand where SOFIA was stationed for 4 to 6 months out of every year, for the Southern Hemisphere season. The Nasa guys were just lovely to deal with and they seemed to really look forward to being stationed here. It was always really nice to see her parked up on the Antarctic Apron (where the C-130s bound for Antarctica also parked) at Christchurch Airport. I went inside Sofia and got the grand tour from the guys. What an Amazing craft she was both inside and out. All of the technicians were seated and surrounded by screens. It reminded me very much of the flight deck of the 'Nostromo' in the orginal 'ALIEN' movie. Surrounded by beeping, whirring and a hussle of activity. Technology all around you, like being encased inside a giant computer. The huge articulated telescope was in the same compartment right next to us and trust me it was an impressive sight. I'm genuinely sad ill never get to see or go on board SOFIA again.

@bobogus7559

Жыл бұрын

@@gl3nnium I'm guessing it will go to a museum in Southern California, maybe even in Palmdale. There's a pair of adjoining publicly accessible airparks on the southern edge of Plant 42 - Blackbird Airpark and Joe Davies Heritage Airpark. I wouldn't be surprised to see it put there.

SOFIA has flown at least two or three times in October, although not on NASA missions. Edwards AFB hosted an airshow on the 15th and 16th and they managed to get SOFIA there, where I was able to get a few pictures. There was also an overnight trip to the Bay Area the night before. There may be a couple more, but I’m not aware of them.

@MentourNow

Жыл бұрын

Oh, that might have happened after we finished the script. Cool!

@randylikins3887

Жыл бұрын

I was on duty at Edwards when SOFIA came in for the air show/open house. They broke the tug trying to tow it into position so they fired up the #2 & #3 engines and taxied into place with the crowd just meters away. It must’ve been an awesome experience for the spectators who were positioned right there in front of it as it pulled in.

Imagine if humanity put all the money and effort it spends in bickering and in wars into science and technology instead. Projects like these, even if they do come to an end, inspire hope and awe.

@MentourNow

Жыл бұрын

I couldn’t agree more.

@kristoffermangila

Жыл бұрын

Well said, indeed.

Thank you for the detailed design information on the special version of the 747SP, and regarding the presentation and announcement of the SOFIA project. The aircraft was in Stuttgart for a few days in September 2019, and I had the opportunity and luck to visit it directly at the airport from the outside and inside. The most impressive thing for me was that this aircraft can fly with the flap open, flying so smoothly that it can take sharp long exposure pictures. I also found the plane to be quite "bare" on the inside, lacking the wall panels you see on passenger planes, you could directly see the struts of the plane's body. That's why it was relatively cold for the scientists who flew along and sat at their monitors etc. in the fuselage, they had to dress warmly. It was also interesting to learn that the airplane does not reach the maximum flight altitude at the beginning. This is because in the beginning it is too heavy to reach the maximum flight altitude due to the fuel it has been refueled with, and it starts at about FL 390. Only after several hours, when enough fuel has been burned in the course of the flight and the aircraft has become lighter as a result, does it climb in succession to the next higher flight level, up to FL 450. Since it mostly returns to the starting airport, but on the other hand the telescope must always be able to observe the same part of the sky for a while, it flies "almost" straight ahead for a while at a time, and then changes direction and flies straight ahead again for a while, with the route leading back to the starting airport at the end. The "straight out" flight paths are not completely straight, however, but somewhat curved, since the telescope must maintain its line of sight relative to space as the Earth rotates away beneath it. This is how the typical flight paths of the SOFIA aircraft are created, as they can also be seen clearly on the following page. www.dsi.uni-stuttgart.de/institut/aktuelles/news/Fliegende-Sternwarte-SOFIA-zu-Gast-am-Stuttgarter-Flughafen/

This is such perfect timing. I’ve only just found (and am now completely hooked on) this channel. My dad was a pilot for 20+ years (now retired) and spent a good amount of that time flying the Boeing 747-200- and was based in Sweden at the time. Very much looking forward to sharing this series with him ✈️

@MentourNow

Жыл бұрын

Awesome! I hope he is doing well!

@nitehawk86

Жыл бұрын

Welcome to the party, pal. Makes sure you subscribe to the main channel too. :)

@ShimmeringShai

Жыл бұрын

@@nitehawk86 “ unfortunately” I’ve been watching/listening to the main channel since I found it and my dad now feels like my questions remind him of a line check 😂

My wife and I used to live off the west end of PMD and SOFIA would take off over our neighborhood. It was an amazing airplane to see down low. Unfortunately we had already left California before she did her last flyby on the way to the museum in AZ. On a side note we named our dog NASA because SOFIA flew over the house the night we got him! Thank you Petter for the great video. It got home for us.

I'm an astrophysicist turned atmospheric scientist, and I was really sad when SOFIA was decommissioned. A friend of mine worked with it during his postdoc and he seemed to really enjoy it. I'm totally jealous of him lol. There is a lot of atmospheric measurements made from aircraft, and they're super useful for science, satellite data validation, and weather forecasting. I don't know how they're acquired though (I'm definitely on the receiving end). Would love to see you explain it all :) Thanks for the awesome content, as usual! :)

@davedarling4316

Жыл бұрын

I'm pretty sure a lot of it is just "instrument sticks out from the aircraft, takes readings". With some sort of recording device inside the aircraft, of course.

@usa1949

Жыл бұрын

yes I Agree Your Totally Right

The most interesting things I learned here were 1) shorter planes need longer tailfins (seems obvious now you point it out, but i'd never noticed) and 2) The overlapping wing box enabled the creation of the 747-400. As they say, you learn something new every day.

I'm over 30 years old, and "it discovered the rings around Uranus" still makes me chuckle.

Thanks for doing this topic! I’m an astrophysicist who loves commercial aviation, so this video was a treat from you, Mentour!

At Lufthansa Werft in Hamburg (SOFIA was actually there for service when i visited) they told us, that NASA had problems to certify the aircraft after the modifications and finally decided to declare is as a spacecraft to avoid the hassles.

@MentourNow

Жыл бұрын

I didn’t find that 😂

@derdan20

Жыл бұрын

I worked on the SOFIA aircraft running engineering for modification projects. I can say that it was flown as a public use aircraft, which doesn’t have to meet FAA certification requirements. Public use can only apply to government owned aircraft. NASA did require us to design to the FAA certification requirements when we could, but we never officially provided FAA approval.

@DUDA-__-

Жыл бұрын

@@derdan20 yes but NASA is not a German government entity and the FAA not the German Aviation Authority. This comment might still be true, the US is not the only country in the world with rules.

@derdan20

Жыл бұрын

@@DUDA-__- But the Aircraft is US registered, and therefore follows the rules of the US. EASA is the CAA for Germany. To fly internationally, the governments have agreements outside of ICAO to enable international flights. It is the same for military aircraft.

@eekee6034

Жыл бұрын

@@derdan20 I think you underestimate bureaucracy. :)

I must still be 13, because "discovered the rings around Uranus" still makes me giggle uncontrollably.

So excited you're doing this subject! Sofia is an amazing observatory, sad to see it go!

@MentourNow

Жыл бұрын

Indeed!

I just walked through the SOFIA observatory a couple of weeks ago. She was visiting Moffett Field in California and they had an open day before her retirement. It was super cool.

This is absolutely wonderful. Beautiful coverage of some thing different in aviation. Thank you.

@MentourNow

Жыл бұрын

Glad you liked it!

A passenger window of that size would really be cool 😎

Imagine how awesome it would be to do astronomy at FL450!

@babyUFO.

Жыл бұрын

imagine satellite telescopes!!!

@xyzaero9656

Жыл бұрын

I did it a lot by just watching the stars from the cockpit 😂

The launch of the JWST was so precise that the time of service was extended to 20 years. SOFIA deserves all the kudos for bringing us to JWST.

@BlahVideosBlahBlah

Жыл бұрын

Yep, the Arianspace team really knocked it out of the park with their launch, exceeding even some of the most optimistic plans for getting on-station near L2. Their present generation rockets may be getting outclassed in launch mass and price per mass by the newer generation in development, but the JWST mission proves they really have a great launch program!

@TypicalBlox

Жыл бұрын

@@BlahVideosBlahBlah The JWST launch in my book was the most perfect launch in history, for so many points of failure the fact that it was so precise and nothing went wrong to the moment it took its first photo is incredible.

I've worked at Boeing 8 years- I'm a nerd for this kind of special aircraft, but I never knew this existed until today. What awesome engineering. Whenever this makes it to a museum I'm definitely taking a trip to see it in person.

I live and work right by where SOFIA is based, and I've watched her take to the skies many times, both with my eyes and on a radar scope. Got to see her up close and personal just after her final mission, since she was open to public tours at the Edwards Air Show a few weeks ago. What a cool piece of history and science.

I did see it during it's D-check at Lufthansa Technik Hamburg in 2014 as I worked there in the VIP department. It was launched 2007 not 2014. One day we heard about SOFIA being there and getting checked, as no other company in the world was willing to do this maintenance on this special aircraft. So we went there after lunch break and took a good look. Then one of the scientists catched us looking and gave us a tour and some infos on a model and some demonstrators for the telescope mounts including the vibration control air buffers. Great day that was. We almost missed the end of our shift. What a piece of tech it is. The rear section did not just get another pressure bulkhead. The whole upper section was replaced with a bigger section to fit the door and opening into it. They also added a whindshield just before the door opening to shield the telescope from the wind and counteract the aerodynamic effects of the open door during flight. The 747SP has also the advantage that it can fly very high as it has the wing of a bigger airplane and significant less weight on it.

Great video and very informative, It is a shame you couldn't have Kelsey' input on this one. Keep up the good work, thank you for the content, and I hope you are enjoying your time.

I am not a pilot (just an Engineer who has always been interested in aviation) but I find all of your videos informative, professionally done and fascinating please keep up the great work!

Thank you for this episode Petter! That was a gem! As an aviation but also an astronomy enthusiast I really enjoyed it!

I saw SOFIA in 2019 when she was stationed in Stuttgart back then. She was a real beauty, this incredible plane with TWO humps. SOFIA is one of the best examples of two engineering powerhouses cooperating: NASA: "We want a new flying telescope. A BIG one." DRL: "Say no more, we got you covered." NASA: "Great! Let´s do it together! You bring the telescope, we´ll get a plane for it." DLR/NASA: *high five* I will really miss her, now that she is retired.

We used to live practically under the flight-path (north end) of Sea-Tac Airport. My dad was a Boeing engineer (yeah, I'm a Boeing brat). We were walking home from the bus one day and I yelled, "Look at that little bitty 747!" and he chuckled and told me it was an SP. Love this video, and I'm glad KZread recommended your channel!

A few years ago a friend spent a night onboard SOFIA as a member of the science team when she was working out of NZ. (I think "working" is a loose term during the flight a much of the work is actually done before and after the flight if all goes well.)

@thermitebanana

Жыл бұрын

That's awesome!

@arthur1670

Жыл бұрын

I saw it in Christchurch

I was the lead instrumentation engineer on SOFIA at L-3 Communications (formerly Raytheon) up until delivery of the aircraft to NASA. I had the privilege of working with the amazing engineers, electricians and mechanics that designed, modified and built this fantastic aircraft. I got to witness the entire modification process and was actively involved in the ground and flight testing up to delivery. It’s truly an amazing aircraft but as they say, all good things must come to an end.

It's amazing how many design changes were made for this variant.

@abeninan4017

Жыл бұрын

All at the expense of the tax payers, another A380 like adventure.

09:14 - Not to forget that even Concorde was used for astronomical observation. The prototype 001 had its roof cut and windows installed for observing the eclipse overhead, which permitted 74 minutes of continuous observation of the eclipse, as compared to the 7 minutes that would otherwise be possible for ground-based observers.

As a sky watcher and amateur astronomer, I absolutely loved this. For those who want to know a little more about what it was like during an observing flight on SOFIA, Emily Levesque has a chapter that describes a night on board in her book "The Last Skywatchers."

@MentourNow

Жыл бұрын

Awesome!

@greengoodman1

Жыл бұрын

Loved her book. Phenomenal work on the topic and tons of fun to read.

Thanks captain, I flew on EP-IAB Tehran-Seoul back in the early 2000s, glad to have flown on this special bird!

@MentourNow

Жыл бұрын

Awesome!

Sp long, SOFIA. You did a wonderful job!

@MentourNow

Жыл бұрын

She did

Great addition to your videos, Mentour - hope you have much joy and success till you are back in “your” Boeing cockpit again in spring! Cheers and all the best for you from Germany, Pepe

Very nice love letter to SOFIA. It was my favorite telescope. What could be better, astronomy married to coolest of the Queen of the Skies. Thank you for this video!

I live in Christchurch, New Zealand where SOFIA was stationed for 4 to 6 months out of every year, for the Southern Hemisphere season. The Nasa guys were just lovely to deal with and they seemed to really look forward to being stationed here. It was always really nice to see her parked up on the Antarctic Apron (where the C-130s bound for Antarctica also parked) at Christchurch Airport. I went inside Sofia and got the grand tour from the guys. What an Amazing craft she was both inside and out. All of the technicians were seated and surrounded by screens. It reminded me very much of the flight deck of the 'Nostromo' in the orginal 'ALIEN' movie. Surrounded by beeping, whirring and a hussle of activity. Technology all around you, like being encased inside a giant computer. The huge articulated telescope was in the same compartment right next to us and trust me it was an impressive sight. I'm genuinely sad ill never get to see or go on board SOFIA again.

@nathancervantes6001

Жыл бұрын

It will be at the Pima Air and Space museum in Arizona USA. Come over. Its a once in a lifetime deal.

I love the way you set this up. The history, tied to the why, tied to the mission. Really nice job.

When Mentour Pilot Aviation and Astronomy comes together ❤❤❤❤❤ Me fanboying like crazy!!!! This was so awesome! Me imagining a collab between Petter and Anton Petrov (Hello wonderful person) 😍😍😍😍

DLR = Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (lit. "German Center for Air- and Space-flight", German Aerospace Center) is the national center for aerospace, energy, and transportation research of Germany and acts as the German space agency responsible for planning and implementing the German space program on behalf of the German federal government

I lost it at "the rings around Uranus", at the age of 30. I will probably never grow up… 😂

i cant resist pointing at it, 9:32 quietly lmao

Great video, i had no idea that SOFIA only lasted 12 years, it felt like much longer, but i guess i might've been thinking of KAO. But cool to see that you're doing deep dives into historic airplanes, because even though there are many channels around that do this, but there aren't many pilots doing it, which makes these feel more 'official'. Even if you all use the same wiki data, a professional will add more details from their own knowledge, good stuff!

@MentourNow

Жыл бұрын

It actually only lasted 8 years

@roichir7699

Жыл бұрын

@@MentourNow It entered scientific service in 2010 and flew much earlier for testing. Sorry to correct you on this.

Combination of two of my favorite subjects! Aviation and astronomy ❤️❤️

One thing that is interesting to me is that it was determined that for the infrared telescope, putting a big window in the aircraft instead of a door was apparently not optimal. Obviously it's a much better aerodynamic solution but I am guessing it isn't transparent enough from the point of view of the infrared telescope.

Thank you for sharing this presentation and for the amazing explanation about this amazing aircraft and its research.

Thanks for another great video! I especially liked this one because it combined two of my favorite things...the 747 AND astronomy. No surprise NASA picked the Queen for this project and that it was such a success. Very sad to see it come to an end and I'm with you Petter, I'd much rather see SOFIA repurposed in another project than just sitting in a museum. Interesting too to learn about this version of the 747 and how she was modified for the project. It will be a very sad day indeed when production of 747's comes to an end. Thanks again as always for another very interesting and informative video! Well done!

Well not a science channel you have presented a very scientifically literate and accurate description of this remarkable instrument. This has been a better video than presented on some of the exclusively science channels I subscribe to. Congratulations it's not easy being both technically accurate and scientifically complete.

That's just fascinating! When I'm clipping along the highway in my car and lower a rear window, the buffeting air is obvious- and that's only at 120 km/h. Imagine the effects with 747 air speeds! Sure, there's a pressure bulkhead separating the telescope area from the rest of the fuselage, and sure, the air is much thinner upwards of 45,000 feet- but it's still staggering to me that it is reported to have flown like this giant door wasn't even open. I'm also impressed that the buffeting that I picture in my mind, was able to be counteracted by the design of the telescope. Thank you for this very informative video, I enjoyed it immensely!

Thanks for the SOFIA story. I was working at NASA on the 12 Foot Pressurized Wind Tunnel Restoration project as tech rep for the tunnel operators - The Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel division. 1996 was the end of the project and the engineering team was assigned to the SOFIA project. It also was almost the end of my days at NASA. I was also ready for retirement. Fond memories of my days at Ames.

i remember when they flew these things in the jet stream on express runs between tokyo and honolulu. we used to watch them nearly dive bomb the runway for landing because they took pride in trying to stay in the jet stream as long as possible. good times.

Wonderfully presented and very informative. Look forward to seeing more of your videos.

@MentourNow

Жыл бұрын

Welcome! I hope you will like it here on the channel.

Wow what an interesting and fascinating video Petter! I can totally see and understand why the hard questions were asked and the decision was made to retire SOFIA after the successful launch and service performance of the James Webb IR telescope. Thanks for a great video on this fascinating topic. Nicely Done!

I think it would be fascinating to be a part of the team doing the design and build of something so incredible. 👌

What a fascinating and insightful video and most importantly, so easy to understand. Thanks again, Peter.

Thank you for this episode and your detailed explanations of the subject. I enjoyed it very much because I helped to produce the bearing of the telescope which is able to stabilize it during flight to the highest precision ever archieved. 22 years ago the Bearing Company FAG was with its equipment in their plant in Wuppertal in Germany the only production in the world which was able to do the finish operations at the bearing in the requested precision. At that time it was the most precise hydrostatic bearing ever made with oil gap totolerances of +/- 10ym on a sphere of 1.2 m in diameter. This super high precision was necessary to avoid any stip-slick-effects for the actuators to compensate the movement of the airplane in flight. We had been working together with the MT Aerospace AG in Augsburg (at that time MAN Technologie AG) for the DLR to complete the telescope. The assembly of the telescope into the airplane was delayed for many years because President Bush stopped the NASA project SOFIA for financial reasons until President Obama reactivated SOFIA and the telescope was finally mounted into the plane 13 years after its production in Germany had been completed. It's a pity that the time of this flying telescope seems to be over. As far as I know it was scientifically a very futile cooperation between the scientists from Germany (University of Stuttgart) and the US astronomers during these 8 years of operation.

Sophia flew over to the Edward's airbase for the airshow. It was beautiful to see her in the sky one last time!

I saw one of SOPHIA's last public displays @ Edwards AFB last month. Low & slow flyby with the telescope door open. Cool to see.

Delicious topic, Petter, thank you! I've always had a passion for astronomy. Hope you're feeling absolutely fantastic. :)

Just last year I met a former NASA scientist, now living back here in Australia, who was heavily involved in building the telescope for that project. It was fascinating to learn a few details about it, and the challenges to work together using multi-national teams. If I remember correctly, she did notice a distinct difference in approaching issues between her American and German colleagues.

Used to see this flying in my home city of Christchurch during winters. Was really cool to see it flying. I also was lucky enough when young to get a personal guided tour of the Kuiper Airborne Observatory when it was in own once. Was really cool to see all the tech inside. Not much room in there

I know a guy from San Francisco that worked on SOFIA. When asked how they aimed a telescope in a 747 he answered "VERY CAREFULLY" lol. Not sure if she still does it but at the time his wife was doing work for the Mars Rover. Really nice and humble couple and obviously incredibly smart. I've known them for years through the competitive sound quality niche of the car audio community and it's a VERY tight (and small) community where everyone seems to know everyone.

I called the SOFIA office. I wondered why the 747SP had not upgraded to the 747-8 wings and engines. In other words get the smallest 747 and put the elevator for the largest version of the 747 lifting it. This would increase range and altitude substantially. To my surprise they answered "We wanted that but the reply was to do this as cheaply as possible". SOFIA is a great piece of kit! I can only hope SOFIA-B might one day fly even higher and on longer observing sessions with these upgrades.

@tumslucks9781

Жыл бұрын

A 747-8 is unnecessary. They might as well cover their 747SP in gold leaf. ✈️🔭🪐🌠

@andrewday3206

Жыл бұрын

@@tumslucks9781 You didn’t understand what I said. I never said use the 747-8 for this mission.

@andrewday3206

Жыл бұрын

@@tumslucks9781 The entire reason to use the 747 was to raise the telescope above as much atmosphere as possible. Using the wings and engine from the latest variant would give you much more altitude and a longer mission. From astronomical viewing that makes a huge difference.

Just popping in to say this was one of my favorite videos in a while.

Man I’ve never heard of that before that’s super interesting.

I love your non-passenger airplane streams. It's uber exciting...

09:30 Oh no my secret is out!

Currently in school for my A&P license and a huge space nerd, was so sad when they announced she was retiring. Would have been a dream job being an AMT with the SOFIA team!!

Just watched this video and the one about the last 747 built. Excellent content as always. If I may, you should continue doing once in a while more historic and unique aircraft content, for example the 747s modified as space shuttle carriers, the 747 Galactic Girl from Virgin Orbit, Samaritan’s Purse DC-8, the aircrafts flown by Orbis the Flying Eye Hospital, etc.

@kristoffermangila

Жыл бұрын

The Orbit Flying Eye Hospital was known as the last operator of the DC-10. The previous Flying Eye Hospital plane was a retired DC-10 that was refurbished and modified for flying hospital use. Orbis retired that plane several years ago (today they use an ex-FedEx MD-10, the Boeing-built DC-10 variant) and donated it to the Pima Air and Space Museum in Arizona, incidentally where SOFIA now calls home.

That was absolutely fabulous!

Great informative video. Thank you

I have loved the 747 since I was a kid. My cousin had some really nice solid metal commercial designed aircraft toys. We used to quiz each other to identify them by engine placement, rear stabilizer design and so forth. His room was also on the top floor of the house which was on a hill and we could see the airport. He had a radio receiver that we could listen in to the communications as we observed the planes coming and going. The 747 has been a favorite since those days and fond memories. Sad to see it coming to an end, but life goes on.

Never knew it existed so thank you so much for covering the retirement of this very unique aircraft

great video, reminds me of older mentour channel videos

Great observations Captain.

I spotted SOFIA flying overhead once. As an infrared astronomer, I have always wanted to use it. The biggest problem with SOFIA is the sensitivity. It can reach far into the infrared, but the sensitivity is quite poor. As a result, there are not too many things bright enough that you can observe with it. Is it completely obsolete? Absolutely not. JWST goes out to 25 micron; SOFIA reaches 600 micron. It also has many instruments that JWST doesn't have, and can be upgraded as mentioned in the video. But sadly, with the finite research budget we had to work with, SOFIA had to be let go.

Thank you for this, was lucky enough to have a tour around this when it was working out of Christchurch airport a few years ago. I don't suppose we will ever see a 747SP out this way again.

Brilliant video! I love the 747 but I think this baby one is the cutest! This video was so interesting from both an aviation and science perspective. thank you 😊

Thank you so much for creating this video and while I was aware of the background of Sofi I have been wondering about the project and the overlap with the James Webb project. I am sad to hear of the end of the program and the 747SP will always hold a special place n my heart as well.

From what I know, JWST cannot replace SOFIA. SOFIA operates in the far infrared range from 0.3 µm to 1600 µm while JWST operates in the near (0.6 to 5 µm) and mid infrared (5 to 28.3 µm) range. But for a long time there had been discussion about their operational cost. I find it very sad, since it really leaves a gap.

@kristoffermangila

Жыл бұрын

Well according to some sources, it costs a million bucks, per flight, give or take a few.

I had the great opportunity to see the sofia 747 in Christchurch New Zealand a few months back. pure coincidence that I was heading to christchurch from Australia the day before it was due to leave for the last time. it was an absolute joy to see it parked on the Antarctic apron and awesome to see engineering excellence.

This was epic! Loved this soooo much ❤

@MentourNow

Жыл бұрын

So happy to hear that

With SpaceX's fully reusable Starship rocket likely flying soon, which will be able to launch and service mammoth space telescopes among other things, it is likely a new suite of serviceable space telescopes will go up, making airborne telescopes even more obsolete. If you just think about the idea of SOPHIA, it is a major effort to get it flying for a limited time with limited capabilities such as 2.5m is probably the biggest you could possibly go with scope size and you still have some atmosphere to deal with, which is a major drag. With Starship, you do one relatively inexpensive launch in a 9m wide rocket where the telescope unfolds in space to be say 24m, nearly 10x the diameter and then it is in space for round the clock observations completely unobstructed. Then Starship is cheap enough to do regular servicing missions to a space telescope designed to be serviced. With Starship's 100+ tonne to LEO capacity and orbital refilling, there are options to either refill in orbit if say you want to go to where the JWST orbits for say a servicing run or maybe use the capacity for a separate transfer vehicle to go out there as there is quite a bit you can do with 100+ tonnes in LEO.

Sad to see SOFIA go away. It demonstrated fantastic engineering and design efforts from a group of Aeronautical Engineers and Telescope scientist. It also shows how fast we are moving through technology. It is possible that the Webb Telescope is already obsolete, and we should expect something new in the next 2 years or so.

Sophia was here doing touch and goes yesterday, she has been here every month or so doing touch and goes for a few years. Fresno Ca I always get great pics as it flies by my backyard

Well I’ve definitely learned something new today Captain Petter, as I had never even heard of this 747 telescope. I know your phrase has become famous now but it’s definitely another“absolutely fantastic” video! :)

@macswanton9622

Жыл бұрын

Check MentourPilot where he uploaded another episode about this plane a few months/weeks back

@Mike-oz4cv

Жыл бұрын

You should watch more Scott Manley, then you’d know about SOFIA.

Many years ago, pre-9/11, I checked out of my Boston hotel early and went to Logan to check in early with United and see if I could get an earlier flight to LAX. The agent told me there was an unscheduled flight to LAX leaving in a bit. It turned out to be an SP doing a relocation flight. I don't know what it was doing in Boston, and I think it was only one of 2 that United had at the time. In any case, it was a phenomenal bit of luck to get to ride on one.

@kristoffermangila

Жыл бұрын

Who knows, you may have ridden SOFIA during her airliner days, since United acquired several ex-PanAm SPs, including SOFIA, which was the former Clipper Lindbergh.

Just wanted to say the 747 is still the most beautiful jetliner. I've had the pleasure of riding on a few and it's super comfortable, and you can feel the immense power at takeoff thrust. I will always love that design.

I would love to have SOFIA either in Speyer or Sinsheim. Moth have a wonderfull collection of special planes.

I hope this amazing plane and its technology is preserved in a museum.

This is awesome!

Totally forgot about the SP. As always, great video.

@MentourNow

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

I'm sad for SOFIA as well, but the writing was on the walls. I just wish science fever would grip society like it once did. Science is on the chopping block!

SOFIA is being flown Tuesday 13 December 2022 to Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson. In January she will be moved over to PIMA Air & Space Museum.

My dad flew the 74-sp for PAA. They had it on the NY to Tokyo. At the time was the only plane that could do it non stop. Great vid. Cheers

@kristoffermangila

Жыл бұрын

Who knows... your old man might have flown SOFIA when she was new, since she was the former PanAm Clipper Lindbergh.

Great video Bro 👍

Sad to see SOFIA retired, I've always thought it was one of the coolest telescopes out there.