WB-57 Solar Eclipse Instruments
For the total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024, HSFL supported Dr. Shadia Habbal of the UH Institute for Astronomy and her team, the “Solar Wind Sherpas”, in flying imagers and spectrometers aboard NASA's WB-57 research aircraft to observe the Sun's corona.
The project, “Airborne Imaging and Spectroscopic Observations of the Corona,” flew wide-field imagers and imaging spectrometers on the WB-57 along the path of totality. Flying at 50,000 ft above the clouds gave the instruments an unobstructed view of the corona and about two extra minutes in the Moon's shadow, while the team gathered data on the corona's temperature and composition.
HSFL supported the design of the instruments from August 2023: two gimbaled imagers in the aircraft's spear pods and two spectrometers in its nose cone. The work covered mechanical design with finite element analysis, electrical design and schematic reviews, the critical design review, and operations support.
A significant effort went into integrating the instruments and preparing the payload data packages for NASA's flight airworthiness review. HSFL team members travelled to Texas for the final integration of the imagers on the WB-57 and supported the flight during the eclipse, alongside NASA, the Institute for Astronomy and the project's German partners.
At a glance
Key facts
Photos
From the project
