NASA to Chase 2026 Total Solar Eclipse at 460 mph With High-Altitude Jet
A coordinated campaign involving a WB-57 aircraft and 86 scientific balloons will study the solar corona and atmospheric shifts.
NASA is coordinating an ambitious scientific campaign to study the total solar eclipse occurring on August 12, 2026. The mission will utilize a high-altitude research jet and a fleet of scientific balloons to analyze the sun's outer atmosphere and the Earth's reaction to sudden darkness.
To maximize the observation window, NASA will deploy a WB-57 high-altitude research aircraft. Flying at approximately 50,000 feet, the jet will chase the moon's shadow at nearly 460 mph. This high-speed pursuit is designed to extend the period of totality to nearly three minutes, a significant increase over the 2 minutes and 18 seconds available to observers on the ground. The aircraft will be equipped with the SCIFLI Multispectral Airborne Imager (SAMI), which utilizes four cameras to capture at least 20 high-resolution images per second across both infrared and visible wavelengths.
Technical Evolution
This campaign builds directly on data and lessons learned from the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Principal investigator Amir Caspi and his team have spent the intervening time refining the SCIFLI imaging system. These improvements include the development of faster image-processing software and the adjustment of camera exposure settings to better capture brighter solar features that were previously difficult to resolve.
Atmospheric Research
Beyond the solar observations, the mission includes a massive atmospheric study led by Angela Des Jardins of Montana State University. As part of the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project, 86 scientific balloons will be launched across two countries. Up to 80 weather balloons will be deployed in Iceland to study the atmosphere's boundary layer, while six additional balloons in Spain will be used to monitor ozone levels. University of Idaho researcher Matthew Bernards is specifically investigating whether the sudden loss of sunlight could break down the atmospheric boundary layer.
Why It Matters
Total solar eclipses serve as a rare natural laboratory for heliophysicists. According to Kelly Korreck, NASA's Eclipse Program Manager, these events allow scientists to study the sun's corona—the superheated outer atmosphere—in a way that is impossible from anywhere else in the solar system because the corona is normally obscured by the sun's overwhelming brightness. Understanding the corona is critical for predicting space weather, which can disrupt satellites, endanger astronauts, and damage power grids on Earth. Simultaneously, the ballooning project reveals how the planet's air circulation and chemistry react to the abrupt removal of solar energy.
What's Next
As the August 2026 date approaches, researchers will continue to calibrate the SAMI imager and coordinate the logistics of the multi-national balloon launches. The success of the mission depends on the precise synchronization of the WB-57's flight path with the moon's shadow to ensure the extended totality window is fully utilized for high-resolution data collection.