The first four Airborne Astronomy Ambassador (AAA) educators returned safely to Earth, landing in Palmdale, Calif. early in the morning Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013, after completing their initial flight on NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA.

That flight launched the AAA program's first full year of operations, during which 26 educators from classrooms and science centers across the United States will fly on SOFIA as partners with scientists conducting astronomy research using the airborne observatory.

On board for the Feb. 12-13 flight were Ambassadors Constance Gartner (Wisconsin School for the Deaf, Delavan, Wisc.), Chelen Johnson (Breck School, Golden Valley, Minn.), Ira Harden, and Vincente Washington (both from City Honors College Preparatory Charter School, Inglewood, Calif.). The astronomers on the flight included Juergen Wolf and Doerte Mehlert of the German SOFIA Institute in Stuttgart, Germany and Ted Dunham of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz.

SOFIA is a modified Boeing 747SP jetliner that carries a telescope with an effective diameter of 100 inches (2.5 meters) to altitudes as high as 45,000 feet (14 km).

Flying above Earth's obscuring atmospheric water vapor, scientists can gather and analyze infrared light to further our understanding of puzzles such as the processes that form stars and planets, the chemistry of organic compounds in interstellar clouds, and the environment around the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.

"SOFIA enables educators to work with scientists and to experience a flight mission on the world's largest airborne observatory. Educators then take their experiences back to their classrooms and communities," said Eddie Zavala, NASA SOFIA program manager.

"They can relate the excitement, hardships, challenges, discoveries, teamwork, and educational values of SOFIA and scientific research to students, teachers, and the general public."

The Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors program is a yearly professional development opportunity extended to educators through a competitive, peer-reviewed process. Teams of two educators are paired with groups of professional astronomers who have won a parallel competitive process to use the flying telescope for their research projects. Each educator team will fly on two 10-hour missions that depart from and return to NASA's Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif.

"These educators submitted applications describing how they will use what they learn from SOFIA to help promote increased public literacy in science, technology, engineering and math," said astronomer Dana Backman, manager of SOFIA's education and public outreach programs.

"Published studies have shown that personally participating in scientific research increases the educators' enthusiasm for teaching, and measurably improves their career retention rates. The same studies have shown that this enthusiasm carries over to the students with tangible increases in test scores and science fair participation."

The current cohort of educator teams will continue flying through the summer of 2013. Information for educators wishing to apply for AAA flights in 2014 will be available starting March 1, 2013, at this website.