The planned deconstruction, disposal, and preservation of historic parts of NASA’s decommissioned Kuiper Airborne Observatory is complete. Part of the airborne astronomy legacy of NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, Kuiper conducted more than two decades of astronomical observations from 1975 to 1995. Later this year, the Kuiper cockpit will go on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Pima, Arizona, where NASA’s retired SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) aircraft is located, while its telescope will go on display at the Moffett Field Museum in the NASA Research Park.

Author: Cara Dodge