According to a recent dispatch from NASA, the space agency has an “exciting new discovery about the moon” on Monday, October 26th.
Surprisingly, the new results are courtesy of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). It is the largest airborne observatory in the world, and it is actually a Boeing 747 SP plane with a hole cut through it, modified to carry large reflective binoculars.
Unlike closed telescopes on Earth, Sophia rises about 11 kilometers (38,000 feet) above the ground, the highest point on our planet. Here, the observatory can rise above 99 percent of the atmosphere to block the infrared wavelength, allowing it to study the infrared universe.
It’s definitely a busy plane. Sophia’s instruments previously discovered the landmark of oxygen in the Martian atmosphere, the first discovery of atomic bonds in space, and the numerous infrared measurements that illuminate exoplanet collisions, at the heart of galaxies and much more – these stunning infrared scenarios. Below is the center of our galaxy.
(NASA / Sofia / JPL-Caltech / ESA / Herschel)
At this point, the observatory has moved its locations too close to home. “The new discovery contributes to NASA’s efforts to learn about the moon in support of space exploration,” the agency said.
Participants in the media briefing include Naseem Rangawala of NASA’s AIIMS Research Center and Sophia Mission Project Scientist, and Jacob Blatter, Chief Research Scientist of NASA’s Directorate of Human Exploration and rations Operations.
We’ll get more information about the discovery on Monday, but NASA made it clear that it will have little effect on the Artemis program – an ambitious plan to send humans back to the lunar surface in 2024, as a way to begin exploring Mars. 2030s.
The Audio Dio Briefing will be streamed live on the agency’s website on Monday 26 October at 12:00 pm.
And, of course, we’ll share more information as soon as the announcement is made, so check out this space!
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