NASA to Launch Rockets into Moon’s Shadow During Solar Eclipse

HOUSTON, TX - NASA will launch three “sounding rockets” during the total solar eclipse on April 8. 

This is part of a study to show how Earth’s upper atmosphere is affected when sunlight momentarily dims over a portion of the planet, according to NASA. 

The sounding rockets will launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia to study the disturbances in the ionosphere created when the Moon eclipses the Sun. 

The sounding rockets will launch at three different times: 45 minutes before, during, and 45 minutes after the peak local eclipse. 

These intervals are important for collecting data on how the Sun’s sudden disappearance affects the ionosphere, creating disturbances that could interfere with communications. 

NASA reports that the ionosphere is a region of Earth’s atmosphere between 55 and 310 miles above the ground. It’s an electrified region that reflects and refracts radio signals and also impacts satellite communications as the signals pass through.

NASA information states that each rocket will eject four secondary instruments the size of a two-liter soda bottle that measure the same data points, which is similar to the results from fifteen rockets while only launching three. 

The sounding rockets had been previously launched and successfully recovered from White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, during the October 2023 annular solar eclipse. 

When the sounding rockets originally launched, scientists saw a sharp reduction in the density of charged particles as the annular eclipse shadow passed over the atmosphere.

The next total solar eclipse over the U.S. is not until 2044. 

The APEP launches will be live-streamed via NASA’s Wallops’ official YouTube page and featured in NASA’s official broadcast of the total solar eclipse.