BOEING 747SP (N747NA)

Up close, and getting quite personal as she roars past at 140kts!...NASA's SOFIA B747-SP flying telescope on short final for Christchurch International Airport, after a long flight southward from Hawaii on Monday 6 June 2016. She will be based in Christchurch for 8 weeks, for the long winter nights touring the Southern Ocean at FL400. Shot with my Nikon 300mm/f2.8 telephoto on a D700.