The main deck of the 747SP is occupied by the telescope, which sits behind the pressure bulkhead, and a variety of workstations and consoles

SOFIA once flew three to four missions a week, yet the iconic jet remained unknown to all but a lucky few

NASA’S SOFIA - a heavily modified Boeing 747SP - ended its mission in 2022.

Building 703 at Palmdale covers 39,000m2 and was built by Rockwell International for the final assembly line of its B-1B Lancer bomber

Captain Liz Ruth, First Officer Jim Less and Flight Engineer John Duffy hard at work during a SOFIA mission