Government Shutdown Science

This undated photo provided by NASA shows SOFIA over the snow-covered Sierra Nevada mountains with its telescope door open during a test flight. The world's largest airborne observatory was supposed to be parked in Seattle this week, so thousands of scientists attending the "Super Bowl of Astronomy" could behold this marvel: a Boeing 747, like this one shown, for example, outfitted with a massive telescope used to study the fundamental mysteries of the universe. (Jim Ross/NASA via AP)