Tribbles in the Telescope

In early August, it was announced that actress Nichelle Nichols would be joining NASA's SOFIA crew, and earlier this week she did - and brought some friends along for the ride.

During the 10-hour overnight observation flight the crew were able to view Beta Umi, which aided in system calibrations, star forming regions W31, W49A, and W51, and they also got a nice visual treat through the windows.

 

Nichelle and the rest of the SOFIA crew also live-tweeted the event using the hashtag #askNASA747  to answer questions from curious fans and friends. Qapla'!