The NASA jets that will fly in complete darkness to study the solar eclipse in a mission that could lead to scientific breakthroughs
- Two of NASA’s WB-57 jets will race under the path of the eclipse at 750 km/h
As Monday’s solar eclipse moves with the sun from Greenland, across Canada, through the US and into Mexico, two specialized NASA jets will be hot on its heels.
Four scientists aboard two of NASA’s three WB-57 research jets will fly through the stratosphere at 750 kilometers per hour, collecting data on the Sun’s corona – the celestial body’s upper atmosphere, which will be unusually visible during the event is like a halo.
The high-altitude WB-57s will chase the eclipse from an altitude of 50,000 feet above sea level, capturing data on how the Sun affects our ionosphere, how the Sun’s own atmosphere works, and incredibly chasing long theorized ‘vulcanoid’ asteroids.
The asteroids are believed to orbit between the Sun and Mercury, while astronomical observations do so due to the Sun’s continued blast of illuminating cosmic rays.
As Monday’s solar eclipse moves with the sun and moon from Greenland, across Canada, through the US and into Mexico, two specialized NASA jets will be hot on its heels
The high-altitude WB-57s will chase the eclipse from an altitude of 50,000 feet above sea level, recording data on how the Sun affects our ionosphere, how the Sun’s own atmosphere works, as well as looking for long theorized ‘vulcanoid’ asteroids
“These could be the best observations ever of high-frequency phenomena in the corona,” says astrophysicist. Then Seatonco-investigator on the NASA project and solar researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder.
“By extending the observation time and going to very high altitudes, we may be able to see some events or track waves that would be essentially invisible in just two minutes of observation from the ground.”
The two jets’ paths will allow them to witness the full overlap, or ‘totality’, of the eclipse 25 percent longer than the longest possible ground observation today, which will be a ‘totality’ of 4 minutes and 27 seconds which is visible in Torreón. , Mexico.
The WB-57 team will view the eclipse in its entirety for an estimated 6 minutes and 22 seconds, and with perfect visibility above all cloud cover.
NASA’s sensor equipment operator Mallory Yates, who will be aboard one of the WB-57 jets, will operate the US space agency with a small keyboard and mouse while her co-pilot monitors the eclipse during those six minutes of total darkness.
“I get one of the best seats in the house,” Yates said BBC news. “So I’m excited to see the eclipse and hopefully get a few looks up as we fly the mission.”