SOFIA

This is SOFIA -- the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy -- based out of Dryden's Palmdale, Calif. facility, and is a former Pan-Am Boeing 747-SP specially retrofitted with a large telescope and a purpose-built door that opens to allow for observations into the deep night sky.

SOFIA is used for, among other things, studying dust out in the stars, explained Eric Becklin, the project's chief science adviser. "Dust forms planets and us," he said. "We are studying the dust we come from."