A special high-altitude NASA plane will chase the solar eclipse at 50,000 feet. Take a look.

Aug 12, 2026 11:18 PM - 1 hour ago 66

A unit personnel prepares for takeoff successful NASA's WB-57.

NASA's WB-57 high-altitude craft will person 1 of the champion views of Wednesday's total star eclipse.

A partial eclipse will beryllium visible from astir awesome European cities, pinch the way of totality passing done parts of Greenland, Iceland, Spain, and Portugal.

Parts of North America's East Coast will beryllium capable to position a partial eclipse astir 12:57 p.m. ET — 19% successful Portland, Maine; 16% successful Boston; and 9% successful New York.

The WB-57, which NASA has utilized to behaviour technological investigation missions since the 1970s, will return disconnected from Iceland and pursuit the moon's protector for a prolonged position of totality from the air.

For those extracurricular the eclipse's path, NASA will stream a unrecorded broadcast. The WB-57 tin besides beryllium followed connected aviation-tracking websites specified arsenic Flightradar24.

In a Saturday X post, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman reposted a video of the squad prepping for the eclipse flight, penning that the WB-57 and different akin technological planes are "excellent platforms for high-altitude research" and that NASA is "using them much often arsenic portion of astronaut training."

Following the eclipse's way astatine 460 miles per hr will widen visibility of the astronomical arena to almost 3 minutes successful the aerial compared to 2 minutes and 18 seconds connected the ground, NASA said.

The jet, based connected a Cold War-era British bomber, will besides alert astatine an altitude of 50,000 feet to debar unreality obstruction — astir 3 miles higher successful the entity than the mean airliner — though the craft is tin of flying astatine up to 63,000 feet.

The WB-57 has 2 unit members: a aviator and a sensor instrumentality operator, who manages the aircraft's analyzable technological instruments, cameras, payloads, and navigational equipment.

A aviator successful the NASA WB-57 pinch state 250 connected the side.

Four cameras positioned successful the aircraft's chemoreceptor cone will seizure 20 photos per 2nd of the star corona, the outermost portion of the sun's atmosphere, successful different wavelengths for researchers to study.

NASA said the chemoreceptor cone has interchangeable configurations that let it to move retired instrumentality for different missions, specified arsenic search rocket launches and atmospheric re-entries.

"From our unsocial position connected Earth during a full star eclipse, scientists tin study the sun's corona successful a measurement we can't from anyplace other successful the star system," Kelly Korreck, eclipse programme head astatine NASA Headquarters successful Washington, said successful an announcement released by NASA.

"The sun impacts our regular life, satellites, and astronauts successful space, and we tin return advantage of this infinitesimal to beforehand our knowing of that influence."

NASA operates 3 WB-57s astatine the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, though 2 are undergoing maintenance.

One was taken retired of work aft a January 2026 mechanical rumor prevented its landing cogwheel from deploying, forcing a wheels-up landing that damaged the aircraft. Neither unit personnel was injured.

The planes person antecedently conducted search and imaging missions during the 2024 full eclipse and successful support of the Artemis II quality spaceflight mission successful April.

It won't beryllium the only level successful the entity chasing the eclipse. A fistful of airlines and backstage jets will travel the arena connected specially arranged, now-sold-out flights. People paid up to $1,200 for a ticket.

Spain's Iberia is flying scientists on the way of totality and livestreaming it via the Airbus plane's high-speed Starlink WiFi. They'll get a bird's-eye position of the eclipse without immoderate unreality cover, but it will alert little than the WB-57 astatine astir 33,000 feet.

Talia Lakritz is simply a Life analogous astatine Business Insider covering authorities and powerfulness done a manner and ocular storytelling lens. She has reported from the White House arsenic good arsenic subject installations, mansions, and museums crossed the country, bringing readers wrong the people, places, and systems that power American life done immersive features.Previously, she wrote for The New York Jewish Week and SciShow Space.Talia holds a BA successful English pinch a attraction successful Creative Writing from Barnard College of Columbia University and ordination arsenic an interfaith curate from One Spirit Learning Alliance. She hopes to 1 time sojourn each 50 states and each 14 nationalist statesmanlike libraries.Talia tin beryllium found on LinkedIn, Instagram, and X.Politics and power:

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