On August 12, 2026, a team led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) used NASA's WB-57 high-altitude research aircraft to observe a total solar eclipse from above the clouds. The flight, which took off from Keflavik, Iceland, flew along the path of totality off the coast of Iceland, where heavy cloud cover threatened ground-based observations.
The WB-57, flying at approximately 50,000 feet, carried a suite of instruments including a visible-light coronagraph and a spectrometer. These instruments captured high-resolution images and spectral data of the Sun's corona, the outer atmosphere, which is normally hidden by the Sun's bright disk. The aircraft's speed and altitude allowed it to extend the duration of totality to about 8 minutes, compared to roughly 2 minutes from a fixed ground location.
According to NASA, the mission aimed to study the corona's temperature, density, and magnetic field structures. The data collected will help scientists better understand solar wind and space weather, which can affect satellites and power grids on Earth. The team successfully retrieved the data after the flight, and initial analysis is underway.
This mission was part of a series of eclipse observations using the WB-57, which previously captured the 2017 and 2024 total solar eclipses. The 2026 eclipse was visible in totality only in remote regions, making the airborne approach essential for scientific observation.
