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[ Music ]

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>> [Background music] When
we fly SOFIA to New Zealand,

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we are providing access
to astronomical objects

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that we don't have access to
here in the Northern Hemisphere,

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a different part of the sky,

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the Magellanic Clouds,
Southern Cross.

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>> One of my favorite objects in
the southern sky is the center

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of our own Milky Way Galaxy.

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There's a supermassive
black hole there,

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stars orbiting it,
gas clouds around it.

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SOFIA will be able
to observe these

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and study the center
of our galaxy.

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>> SOFIA stands for
stratospheric observatory

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for infrared astronomy.

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It is a jumbo jet
Boeing 747 aircraft

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that has been retrofitted with
a 2-1/2 meter infrared telescope

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that was built by our partner,
the German Aerospace Center.

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It flies above 99% of the water
vapor in the earth's atmosphere

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and that is the location
that is required

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to do infrared astronomy.

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>> SOFIA has unique
capabilities.

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It can detect light in a part
of the electromagnetic spectrum

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that can't be detected
by any other observatory.

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>> SOFIA does a lot
of unique science.

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We look at the formation
of stars.

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We also study the formation of
planetary systems around stars.

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We also will do planetary
science

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within our own solar system

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and the Pluto occultation is
a perfect example of that.

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Conducting an observation of
an occultation is probably one

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of the more challenging
missions that SOFIA can do.

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An occultation is essentially
a situation where a planet,

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in this case Pluto, is passing
in front of a background star,

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kind of like an eclipse,
and when Pluto does that,

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we will be able to see
the effects of the light

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as it passes through
Pluto's atmosphere.

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And we can use that light to
determine what is happening

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in Pluto's atmosphere,
how deep it is, whether

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or not there's winds, and help
characterize the situation.

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The shadow of this
occultation is going to occur

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in the middle of the ocean.

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There isn't another telescope

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that can take advantage
of this opportunity.

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The aircraft is moving at
about 500 miles an hour.

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The shadow that is being cast
on the surface of the Earth

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by Pluto is moving at
orbital velocities.

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We will really need a
teamwork effort in order

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to successfully observe
Pluto during its occultation.

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On the night of the observation,
while SOFIA is in flight,

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there will be a team
of observatories

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that will help SOFIA: The
Anglo-Australian Telescope,

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Lowell Observatory, the Naval
Observatory at Flagstaff,

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the Discovery Channel Telescope
will be making last-minute

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observations of Pluto.

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They will provide
observation data to MIT

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and MIT will update
their predictive model

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of where the shadow of the
Pluto occultation is going

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to be on the Earth.

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We will receive that update.

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We will modify our flight
plan and position SOFIA

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where it needs to be to
intercept the shadow.

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The data that SOFIA
is going to collect

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when we observe the Pluto
occultation will help

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characterize the
atmosphere on Pluto

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and it'll also provide data that
could be used for calibration,

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a ground truth source of data

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that will enhance the New
Horizon's mission

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in the following days.

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>> NASA New Horizons flyby July
14, 2015, is just two weeks

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after this stellar occultation
that SOFIA will observe.

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That is timely.

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It means that we can use the
data from SOFIA to correlate

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and corroborate the measurements
that are made by New Horizons

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when it goes up close and
personal two weeks later.

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We'll probe Pluto's atmosphere
to extreme low levels.

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SOFIA's infrared capability is
the only type of instrumentation

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that can equal that measurement.

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So by having a measurement
of Pluto's atmosphere

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from another platform
from SOFIA,

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taken with almost the
same type of sensitivity,

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can help us interpret
the results

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that the New Horizon
spacecraft is going

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to make two weeks later.

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[ Music ]

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>> [Background music] In order

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to successfully execute a
deployment requires a tremendous

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amount of planning.

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We've been planning for this
deployment for several months

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and in some cases
for almost a year.

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Essentially, what we're
doing is we're taking all

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of our home-base operations

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and we're transplanting
those operations

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to Christchurch, New Zealand.

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The last time we
were in New Zealand,

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we operated with a
single instrument

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and we were very
successful in doing so.

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This time around, we're going

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to increase our science
instrument complement

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by a factor of four.

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We're going to take four
different instruments.

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We're going to change
them out in location.

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We're going to support
all of those instruments

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and so the tremendous amount
of logistics, detail planning

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that is required to successfully
conduct those operations

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that we'd normally do at
home is quite challenging.

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>> Astronomy demands that we
develop very sensitive cameras,

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very sensitive optical systems,

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the ability to detect faint
sources amongst a noisy

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background and once we
have that capability,

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we can apply it in other areas.

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It's been used in
medical imaging.

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It's been used in
homeland security,

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but the most important reason we
study astronomy is to understand

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that place in the universe.

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[ Music ]

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>> I'm looking forward

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to a very successful Southern
Hemisphere deployment