NASA flies jet through solar eclipse totality
WCNC Charlotte Weather IQ WCNC Charlotte Weather IQ
39.8K subscribers
368,351 views
0

 Published On Apr 8, 2024

NASA will also fly a jet plane to capture data along the path of solar eclipse totality

NASA's WB-57 plane will launch from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and travel 460 mph through the path of totality.

"It does that so that we can actually extend the length of those experiments in totality," Gina DiBraccio, the deputy director of Heliophysics at NASA's Goodard Space Flight Center, explained.

Traveling this path at this speed will allow NASA to gather more data because the eclipse will last 25% longer for the plane.

"You would think that it would extend a lot longer. It's actually only maybe two minutes or so," DiBraccio explained.

Every second counts for scientists trying to observe this rare event.

On the ground, totality will only last approximately four minutes. In the air, scientists hope to extend their totality by 25%.

https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/wor...

show more

Share/Embed