NASA Awards SOFIA Development, Engineering to L-3 Communications

Feb. 8, 2007

Grey Hautaluoma
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0668

Alan Brown
Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards AFB, Calif.
661-276-2665

CONTRACT RELEASE: C07-04

NASA AWARDS SOFIA DEVELOPMENT, ENGINEERING TO L-3 COMMUNICATIONS

EDWARDS AFB, Calif. - NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center has awarded
a contract to L-3 Communications Integrated Systems, L.P., of Waco,
Texas, for continued developmental and engineering work on the
Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).

The cost-plus-award-fee contract could be worth up to $26 million over
a five-year period if all options are exercised. The contract takes
effect Feb. 9, 2007, with a 23-month base period extending through
Dec. 31, 2008. Three one-year option periods could extend the
agreement from Jan. 1, 2009 through Dec. 31, 2011.

The tasks that remain for completion of the SOFIA airborne observatory
platform involve two major parts, the Airborne System and the Cavity
Door Drive System. L-3 Communications will be responsible for
completing development and testing of the Airborne System, including
modification, fabrication, installation, integration, and
verification of various systems to meet SOFIA mission requirements.
In addition, L-3 is also tasked with providing engineering support
and technical representation to NASA as necessary to support
transition from development to operations.

The SOFIA program includes a high-altitude airborne observatory
consisting of a 2.5-meter (100 inch) infrared telescope mounted in a
cavity in the rear fuselage of a highly modified Boeing 747SP
jetliner. Scientific instruments mounted in the observatory will be
capable of celestial observations ranging from visible light through
the sub-millimeter far-infrared spectrum. SOFIA is being developed
jointly by NASA and the Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft und Raumfahrt
(German Aerospace Center).

For more details on SOFIA and its mission o the Web, visit:

www.sofia.usra.edu

-end-

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