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Narrator: Most telescopes are either firmly planted

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on the Earth, or floating in space. There is

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one NASA mission, however, that flies in between.

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SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy,

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is an infrared telescope built into a 

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747SP jet airliner. It enables research not possible

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with any other telescope. Flying at 

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39 to 45 thousand feet, SOFIA is above

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99 percent of the water vapor that blocks infrared light from space, 

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so its view is nearly equal to a satellite's. But unlike

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a satellite, its instruments can be upgraded and replaced, just like

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a Earth-based observatory. And, with each upgrade, 

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SOFIA's powers increase. Currently, its sensitivity

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and resolution are similar to some infrared satellites. However,

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a new instrument is about help astronomers reach SOFIA's

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maximum sensitivity at far infrared wavelengths between

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25 and 122 microns. Called HIRMES, 

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the High Resolution Mid-InfraRed Spectrometer, is not

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designed to take pictures, but rather make incredibly precise measurements

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of specific far infrared wavelengths emitted by oxygen,

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water and hydrogen. Seeing how these atoms and molecules

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are distributed around a young star is crucial for

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astronomers to better understand how planets form.

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HIRMES is being built by a team led by Harvey Moseley at

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NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Goddard is one part

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of the large, collaborative effort that makes SOFIA possible.

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NASA's Ames Research Center manages the program,

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the Armstrong Flight Research Center maintains and operates the aircraft, 

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the German Aerospace Center maintains the telescope, and many other

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institutions and organizations contribute their expertise and instruments.

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HIRMES will observe light with wavelengths

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30 to 160 times longer than the reddest red humans

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can see. To do this, the instruments

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detectors must be made extremely cold, so their own heat doesn't

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overwhelm the infrared light of the objects they're observing.

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Because SOFIA lands after each observation period, 

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its coolant can be refreshed, allowing HIRMES to operate at less than

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a degree above absolute zero. At this temperature,

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even slight movements can generate unwanted heat.

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Vibration is a part of any airplane flight, so SOFIA

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has a complex system to isolate it, eliminating any potential

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problems from heating, and preventing blurry images at the same time.

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By looking at stars with protoplanetary disks,

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HIRMES will see far infrared light marking the presence

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of neutral oxygen atoms, water, hydrogen

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and other molecules. Because water vapor and icy particles

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emit different wavelengths, researchers can locate

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where the water vapor transitions to ice in protoplanetary disks.

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These transition regions have not been well explored

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in young planetary systems because ice emissions are difficult

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to detect. Finding ice particles is one of HIRMES's

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key missions. Putting all these observations together

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will help scientists better understand how water vapor, ice, 

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and oxygen combine at different times during planet formation.

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This, in turn, will help us better predict exoplanet

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composition and give us clues as to which distant

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planets are most similar to Earth.

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♪Music♪

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♪Music♪

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[Beeping]

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[Beeping]