Time to Axe SOFIA?

[Flyaway]

Seems like it is proving to be something of a waste of money.

But SOFIA, which costs tens of millions of dollars a year to run, has not been as impressive as many astronomers had hoped. Over its first 5 years of operations, from 2014 to 2018, it produced only 21 scientific papers per year on average — making it one of the least productive telescopes worldwide, according to one analysis.

And through a freedom-of-information request, Nature obtained a copy of a scathing review of SOFIA made last year by an independent panel. The report is heavily redacted, but confirms that the observatory falls far short of its goals, including one to produce more than 150 scientific papers per year.

“Certainly, SOFIA has not lived up to its potential,” says Paul Hertz, head of NASA’s astrophysics division in Washington, DC.

That's not even counting the coronavirus pandemic that is upending lives and research around the globe. Because of the coronavirus threat, SOFIA has been grounded since the night of 12-13 March.

Is this telescope-on-a-plane worth its pricetag?

NASA’s high-flying SOFIA observatory has struggled to prove its scientific worth.

www.nature.com

 

[mkellytx]

Seems like it is proving to be something of a waste of money.

But SOFIA, which costs tens of millions of dollars a year to run, has not been as impressive as many astronomers had hoped. Over its first 5 years of operations, from 2014 to 2018, it produced only 21 scientific papers per year on average — making it one of the least productive telescopes worldwide, according to one analysis.

And through a freedom-of-information request, Nature obtained a copy of a scathing review of SOFIA made last year by an independent panel. The report is heavily redacted, but confirms that the observatory falls far short of its goals, including one to produce more than 150 scientific papers per year.

“Certainly, SOFIA has not lived up to its potential,” says Paul Hertz, head of NASA’s astrophysics division in Washington, DC.

That's not even counting the coronavirus pandemic that is upending lives and research around the globe. Because of the coronavirus threat, SOFIA has been grounded since the night of 12-13 March.

Is this telescope-on-a-plane worth its pricetag?

NASA’s high-flying SOFIA observatory has struggled to prove its scientific worth.

www.nature.com

Sad to hear. My old squadron commander was the test pilot for that bird after he retired when the project was starting.

 

[Grey Havoc]

I suspect that rather a lot of the bad press is down to rivals for the program's funding. The same old same old.