It has cost $1.25 billion so far. NASA requested $87 million for SOFIA in 2014 and spent nearly that much on the project in the last fiscal year.
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NASA's SOFIA flying telescope, retired in September after 12 years of observing the cosmos from the stratosphere in a modified Boeing 747, is moving to its permanent home at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.
According to data from ch-aviation.com, the oldest active Boeing 747 family aircraft left in the world today is a 747-100SF that flies for the Iranian Air Force. Bearing registration 5-8103, this veteran quadjet is 52.86 years old and flew for TWA from 1970 to 1975 before being converted for usage as a freighter.
In a ceremony that was broadcast live online, the aircraft was handed over to its new owner, US air cargo operator Atlas Air, at Boeing's plant in Everett, Washington.
Boeing is currently in the certification process for the 777X program, with the first deliveries scheduled for 2025. The aircraft has big shoes to fill, but there is good reason to believe it will succeed. British Airways is one carrier that placed a sizable order of 777-9s to replace its fleet of retiring 747s.
Sure, the 747 is a Type Certified and airworthy aircraft, the FAA does not really care who owns it so long as they play by the rules. Boeing even sells them directly to the private market via their BBJ line. There are even a few used ones listed for sale right now.
A Boeing 747 can endure about 35,000 pressurization cycles and flights—roughly 135,000 to 165,000 flight hours—before metal fatigue sets in. 747s are retired after approximately 27 years of service.