GREAT: the first-generation German heterodyne receiver for SOFIA

A consortium of German research laboratories has been established for the development of a modular dual-channel heterodyne instrument (GREAT: German Receiver for Astronomy at Terahertz Frequencies) for high-resolution spectroscopy aboard SOFIA. The receiver is scheduled to be available in time for SOFIA's very first astronomical mission in late 2002. The first-flight version will offer opportunities for parallel observations in two frequency bands. We will have a choice of backends, including an acousto-optic array (4 X 1 GHz) and a high-resolution chirp transform spectrometer.