The Boeing 747SP SOFIA Flying Observatory found no signs of life in the atmosphere of Venus

The Boeing 747SP SOFIA airborne observatory has upset scientists who had hoped that biological life might exist on Venus.

Here's What We Know

In 2020, scientists announced that they had detected phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus. This gas is a biomarker for the activity of living organisms. Naturally, there were immediately hypotheses about the habitability of the second planet of the solar system. Early last year, a refutation of the hypothesis of biological life on Venus appeared. This is confirmed by the aerial observatory SOFIA based on Boeing 747SP.

A year ago, the flying observatory was able to observe the neighboring planet. Thanks to the collected data at an altitude of 75-110 km it was possible to determine that the phosphine content in the atmosphere is not more than 0.8 parts per billion.

It is worth noting that the observation of Venus was one of the last tasks of the aerial 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 a museum.

Source: NASA