NASA’s WB-57 research aircraft has arrived in Iceland for a high-altitude mission to observe the total solar eclipse from above the North Atlantic. The WB-57F Canberra, operating as NASA926, is based at Keflavík and is due to depart on 12 August for a flight along the eclipse path, with two NASA aviators onboard and imaging work planned at about 50,000 feet.
The jet flew from Ellington Field in Texas with a stop in Bangor, Maine before crossing to Iceland. NASA is using the long-serving aircraft because it can operate above most cloud cover and much of the atmospheric distortion that affects ground-based observations, improving visibility of the Sun’s corona and related phenomena during totality.
The mission is designed to capture high-speed imagery in visible and infrared wavelengths, supporting studies of prominences, nanoflares and coronal heating. Four cameras are fitted in the aircraft’s nose, and the flight is timed to chase the Moon’s shadow to extend usable observation time. NASA’s eclipse coverage also includes balloon experiments in Iceland and Spain as part of the wider campaign.