QUESTION:
How many people are currently working on the SOFIA project?

ANSWER from Chris Wiltsee on October 8, 1995:
Hello - my name is Chris Wiltsee. I'm the SOFIA Project Manager at Ames
Research Center. The Project is just entering the design and development
phase, during which the Observatory will be built, tested and delivered for
operations. At the moment, there are a little over forty 'full-time-
equivalents' working on the Project here. (This is the terminology we use to
measure the amount of people-power being allocated to the Project). In terms
of actual individuals, there are around sixty involved, many of them on a
part-time basis. There are about thirty people assigned full-time to the
Project. We expect the number to grow to around three hundred
full-time-equivalents working on the system development worldwide, within the
next couple of years. This number includes aerospace contractors in Germany
and the USA, as well as the team here at Ames.

Thank you for your interest!
Chris Wiltsee