Press release content from PR Newswire. The AP news staff was not involved in its creation. SOFIA Begins First Series of Science Flights from Germany February 4, 2021 GMT Universities Space Research Association Logo (PRNewsfoto/Universities Space Research Ass) COLUMBIA, Md., Feb. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) will conduct its first-ever series of observations from Germany in March 2021. Many of the observations seek to answer fundamental questions in astronomy, including how stars can transform galaxies and what is the origin of cosmic rays in the Milky Way galaxy. SOFIA, a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center, DLR, recently completed scheduled maintenance and telescope upgrades at Lufthansa Technik’s facility in Hamburg, Germany. Now, the observatory will take advantage of its proximity to science teams at the Max-Planck Institute of Radio Astronomy in Bonn and the University of Cologne, which operate the Instrument called German Receiver at Terahertz Frequencies, or GREAT, to conduct research flights from the Cologne Bonn Airport.