The Boeing 747SP SOFIA airborne observatory has upset scientists who had hoped that Venus could exist.
What is known
In 2020, scientists announced that they had succeededdetect phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus. This gas is a biomarker of the activity of living organisms. Naturally, hypotheses about the habitability of the second planet of the solar system immediately arose. At the beginning of last year, a refutation of the hypothesis of biological life on Venus appeared. This is confirmed by the SOFIA airborne observatory based on the Boeing 747SP aircraft.
A year ago, the flying observatory was engaged inobservation of the neighboring board. Thanks to the data collected at an altitude of 75-110 km, it was possible to establish that the content of phosphine in the atmosphere is no more than 0.8 parts per billion.
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It is worth noting that the observation of Venus wasone of the last tasks of the air observatory. The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) program was launched at the end of the last century. The last flight of the Boeing 747SP SOFIA ended on September 28, and now the aircraft will go to the museum.