Hughes Aircraft, the UA and other groups are submitting a proposal that could bring a 25-year, billion-dollar NASA contract to Tucson.

The Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA, is a project that plans to mount a German-built infrared telescope 2.5 meters (8 feet) in diameter inside a re-built Boeing 747SP model aircraft. It would be the largest flying telescope in the world.

SOFIA would take over the role of the Kuiper Airborne Observatory, which was retired last September after 21 years in operation.

SOFIA will allow observers to take the plane above 99 percent of the water vapor that normally blocks certain radiation, said Hal Larson, professor of Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and director of the SOFIA program.

"It is the only one in the world that will allow astronomers to work in these wavelengths with no vapor," he said.

The University of Arizona/Hughes team has been working on the SOFIA project since last November, and recently submitted the thousand-page proposal to NASA for approval.

"We don't have a nickel yet. All we've done is submit this pile of paper," Larson said.

"It's like homework from hell," said Larson of the proposal.

There are at least three teams besides UA/Hughes competing to land the project. According to Space News, one team consists of the University of Texas at Austin, Raytheon Co., and E-systems. Another is headed by the Universities Space Research Association of Columbia, Maryland in partnership with United Airlines and Chrysler Technologies of Waco, Texas. The other team is a California-based venture involving Lockheed Martin and Evergreen Air, which operates Evergreen air center in Marana.

The Tucson team is a collaboration of around two dozen organizations, Larson said. The core team consists of Hughes, the UA, the Northrop-Grumman Corp., Tucson International Airport, Kaman Aerospace Corporation, Boeing Co. and American Airlines. Other gro ups, like Pima Community College and the National Air and Space Museum, are also involved in the team effort, Larson said.

"Northrup-Grumman Corporation will be responsible for the design, development, structural modification, aircraft conversion, maintenance, and FAA certification of the SOFIA 747SP," according to information provided by the UA/Hughes team.

The UA/Hughes proposal plans to build a new 100,000-square-foot hangar and aircraft maintenance facility at Tucson International Airport, Larson said. The facilities at the airport would also include a laboratory and research area, as well as a public are a, which will feature gift shops and viewing areas.

The proposal includes plans to construct an on-campus "intellectual home base" to house experts and astronomers drawn by the observatory. The plans call for a 27,000-square-foot addition to the Kuiper Space Sciences building.

"We have a mandate: 'Use this facility to inspire,'" said Larson of NASA's requirement that the proposals should have a very ambitious educational outreach program.

"Our strength is that we can bring students and everybody in to see it," Larson said.

"We could have a teacher and a class up there in the plane," Larson said, adding that there will be video and radio links to ground locations.

"I believe we have far exceeded NASA's expectations," said Larson of the UA's ambitious education and outreach program for SOFIA.

NASA has decided to privatize SOFIA "to save money and draw upon the expertise of the private sector and the nation's research universities," according to information released by the UA/Hughes team.

"This is probably the first time that an entire project, from development, through test and integration, and, finally, for it's entire operating life, was placed in the private sector," said Mike Shovlin, lead system engineer for SOFIA.

"It seems that Congress is happier with that sort of approach," Shovlin said of privatization.

If NASA accepts the UA/Hughes bid, they will invest $220 million for project development during the first five years.

"This is one of NASA's first real tests of development and operation being turned over to the private sector," Larson said.

The SOFIA project would have an annual budget of $28 million, and the plane is expected to make flights for 20 years, according to information provided by the team.

The team estimates that SOFIA could bring $12 to $15 million a year in research grants to the UA.

SOFIA is estimated to generate 540 jobs and around $4.75 million in salaries by 1998. By the year 2000, the team estimates 110 high-paying jobs (around $50,000 a year) would be created as a result of SOFIA.

The UA/Hughes team submitted their proposal to NASA July 1, and the cost volume July 11. Between now and November, NASA will return all of the proposals for revisions.

NASA will reach its final decision in early November, Larson said.

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Wildcat Web Link: SOFIA Project

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