MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) - A projected map cuts through the semidarkness of North Medford High Schools planetarium and shimmers into focus on the domes curved ceiling.

Its a flight path, showing planned liftoffs from Palmdale, Calif., on Wednesday and Thursday that will soar over Oregon, Washington, parts of Canada, Iowa and Idaho before returning to base; two 10-hour jaunts with no planned landings.

Sunset to sunrise, well fly all night, says Robert Black, North Medfords astronomy teacher and planetarium director.

But the route isnt for a typical airplane flight, the kind with a cramped seat and a bag of stale crackers.

Black, 50, along with friend and fellow amateur astronomer Dave Bloomsness, 61, of Southern Oregon Skywatchers, will fly aboard SOFIA - NASAs Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy - the worlds largest flying telescope. They are among 24 educators who were selected from across the country for SOFIAs Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors program.

Working alongside astronomers and other scientists, they will collect infrared images and data pertaining to the study of interstellar gases, star formation and destruction, and black holes - all at 45,000 feet in the Earths stratosphere, about twice the height for a domestic plane flight. When they return, they will implement classroom lessons and public outreach events based on their experiences.

Its a huge opportunity. Im really excited, Bloomsness says.

Educators have been taking similar flights since the Ambassadors program began in 2010.

Black says his mentor, Gary Sprague, took a flight in the 1980s aboard the Kuiper Airborne Observatory, a modified C141A military cargo plane that ran research and observation flights from 1975 until its retirement in the 1990s. SOFIA took over in 2010.

Thats one of the high points of his career, Black says of Spragues flight. He volunteered to fly. Somebody got sick. It was an accident for him, serendipity.

The rest is here:

Southern Oregon astronomers taking NASA flight