NASA deploys WB-57 jet and balloons for solar eclipse
NASA is getting ready to make the most of the total solar eclipse on August 12, 2026.
They are sending up a high-altitude WB-57 jet to follow the moon's shadow and get a longer look at the sun's corona (that is the sun's outer atmosphere).
At the same time, the NASA-supported Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project will coordinate teams to release balloons to track how Earth's atmosphere reacts during this rare event.
NASA instruments measure solar, atmospheric changes
The jet is loaded with cameras to capture new details about solar winds and what happens around the sun during an eclipse.
The balloon project will measure things like ozone levels and temperature changes close to Earth's surface.
NASA hopes these experiments will help us understand how changes in the sun affect satellites, our planet, and astronauts in space.
As Amir Caspi, principal investigator for the study at Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, puts it, "Every eclipse is different," so there is always something new to discover.