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• Flying telescope makes heavenly visit

Employees at NASA Ames Research Center line up to visit Sofia (for "stratospheric observatory for infrared astronomy"), a modified 747 that will soon be the world's largest flying observatory--with a 2.5-meter infrared telescope inside. Not quite finished yet, Sofia is being built so that scientists can study celestial bodies more accurately and efficiently. Although NASA Ames has worked on the scientific instrumentation for Sofia, Monday was the plane's first-ever visit to the center's Hangar One.

Credit: Stefanie Olsen/CNET News.com

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