QUESTION:
What is the longest distance that the Kuiper has ever covered in one flight?

ANSWER from Terry Rager on October 7:
The Kuiper has the capability of carrying 153,352 pounds of fuel or 22888
gals.  However, due to the added weight of the telescope and support equipment
needed on "deployments," the aircraft is weight limited to about 145,000 lbs. 
of fuel. To answer your question, we can comfortably fly for 10.5 hours with
required fuel reserves. The aircraft averages 430 knts. (495 mph), so.... the
longest flights we fly are 4515 nautical miles or 5200 statute miles.
We do not normally fly missions of this length because the astronomers want to
be at an altitude that gets the airplane above the water vapor in the
atmosphere. If we take fuel off, we can go higher. That is why our normal
flight is about 8 hours long.
Thank you for your question and please contact any of us again!!!
Terry Rager, Project Pilot, KAO