NASA’s WB-57 high-altitude aircraft will have one of the best views of Wednesday’s total solar eclipse.
A partial eclipse will be visible from most major European cities, with the path of totality passing through parts of Greenland, Iceland, Spain, and Portugal.
Parts of North America’s East Coast will be able to view a partial eclipse around 12:57 p.m. ET — 19% in Portland, Maine; 16% in Boston; and 9% in New York.
The WB-57, which NASA has used to conduct scientific research missions since the 1970s, will take off from Iceland and chase the moon’s shadow for a prolonged view of totality from the air.
For those outside the eclipse’s path, NASA will stream a live broadcast. The WB-57 can also be followed on aviation-tracking websites such as Flightradar24.
In a Saturday X post, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman reposted a video of the team prepping for the eclipse flight, writing that the WB-57 and other similar scientific planes are “excellent platforms for high-altitude research” and that NASA is “using them more frequently as part of astronaut training.”
Following the eclipse’s path at 460 miles per hour will extend visibility of the astronomical phenomenon to almost 3 minutes in the air compared to 2 minutes and 18 seconds on the ground, NASA said.
The jet, based on a Cold War-era British bomber, will also fly at an altitude of 50,000 feet to avoid cloud obstruction — nearly three miles higher in the sky than the average airliner — though the aircraft is capable of flying at up to 63,000 feet.
The WB-57 has two crew members: a pilot and a sensor equipment operator, who manages the aircraft’s complex scientific instruments, cameras, payloads, and navigational equipment.
Four cameras positioned in the aircraft’s nose cone will capture 20 photos per second of the solar corona, the outermost part of the sun’s atmosphere, in different wavelengths for researchers to study.
NASA said the nose cone has interchangeable configurations that allow it to switch out equipment for other missions, such as tracking rocket launches and atmospheric re-entries.
“From our unique perspective on Earth during a total solar eclipse, scientists can study the sun’s corona in a way we can’t from anywhere else in the solar system,” Kelly Korreck, eclipse program manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in an announcement released by NASA.
“The sun impacts our daily life, satellites, and astronauts in space, and we can take advantage of this moment to advance our understanding of that influence.”
NASA operates three WB-57s at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, though two are undergoing maintenance.
One was taken out of service after a January 2026 mechanical issue prevented its landing gear from deploying, forcing a wheels-up landing that damaged the aircraft. Neither crew member was injured.
The planes have previously conducted tracking and imaging missions during the 2024 total eclipse and in support of the Artemis II human spaceflight mission in April.
It won’t be the only plane in the sky chasing the eclipse. A handful of airlines and private jets will follow the phenomenon on specially arranged, now-sold-out flights. People paid up to $1,200 for a ticket.
Spain’s Iberia is flying scientists along the path of totality and livestreaming it via the Airbus plane’s high-speed Starlink WiFi. They’ll get a bird’s-eye view of the eclipse without any cloud cover, but it will fly lower than the WB-57 at about 33,000 feet.
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