by Flying a plane into the shadow of the moon during a total solar eclipse is a hot topic thanks to the upcoming solar eclipse. JSX There is a dedicated eclipse flight over Dallas, and both United Airlines and Delta They have long sold out tickets for scheduled flights through the the path of wholeness on trips from Texas to the Northeast.
But no one will come close to realizing what Concorde 001 did June 30, 1973when he raced the shadow of the moon along the Tropic of Cancer during an entire period solar eclipse.
Flying at 55,000 feet (17,000 meters), the world’s fastest supersonic jet extended its total duration from a maximum of 7 minutes, 4 seconds on the ground to an astonishing 74 minutes.
Related: How fast does April’s total solar eclipse travel?
For the seven observers from France, Britain and the US, the flight broke the record for the longest total solar eclipse in human history. With the supersonic jet long out of service, the historic Concorde flight from 1973 remains a legend for eclipse chasers.
A record-breaking flight
On June 30, 1973, Concorde took off from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, in the Spanish Canary Islands.
The path of totality that day was about 156 miles (251 kilometers) wide when Concorde intercepted it, with the moon’s shadow moving at about 1,500 mph (2,400 km/h). Concorde flew at 1,350 mph (2,200 km/h) – Mach 2 – along the path of totality in the same direction as the moon’s shadow, keeping up with it as long as possible.
Scientists came on board from Los Alamos National Laboratory, Paris Observatory, Kitt Peak National Observatory, Queen Mary University of London, University of Aberdeen, and the French National Center for Scientific Research.
Concorde 001 was modified just for them, and hatches were created on the roof for observation equipment. The extra-long total allowed these scientists to study the sun’s corona, its chromosphere and the intensity of sunlight from above much of it. The Earth’s Atmosphere.
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“We intercepted the whole thing and stayed inside it for 74 minutes before it came down and landed in the African nation of Chad,” Donald Liebenberg, a scientist from the Los Alamos National Laboratory who was on board the flight, wrote for NBC News. “At 74 minutes, our group set a record for total time spent on board the Concorde that has never been broken. It was an experience I will never forget.”
Concorde took off at 1008 GMT and passed over Mauritania with the shadow of the moon caught in it. Over the next four minutes, it flew across the Sahara in Mali, Nigeria and Niger before being overtaken by the moon’s shadow. He landed in Chad.
In addition to experiencing the long totality, scientists saw a seven-minute “first contact” and a 12-minute “third contact” – the beginning and end of the eclipse when viewers on the ground see a brief display of it Baily beads and the “diamond ring effect.”
The 1973 flight was not the last time Concorde went into the shadow of the moon during a total solar eclipse. Twenty-six years later, on August 11, 1999three Concordes — one from France and two from the UK — into the shadow of the moon, carrying tourists, as documented by French eclipse expert Xavier Jubier. Each paid $2,400 ($4,457 in today’s dollars), although the whole lasted only four or five minutes, compared to about two minutes on the ground. However, the passengers had problems seeing the whole thing for more than 30 seconds due to the small windows and the height of the sun.
It’s a reminder that intercepting the moon’s shadow on a plane isn’t easy.
Final journey
The 1999 trips were Concorde’s last trips on the path of totality. After the fatal accident of Air France flight 4590 on July 25, 2000, just after take off, eclipse flight planned on June 21, 2001cancelled.
It was the most successful eclipse flight in recent years E-Flight 2019-MAX, which on July 2, 2019, doubled the total length from 4 minutes, 32 seconds to 9 minutes. On board the LATAM Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner were 43 eclipse chasers, each of whom had been paid $6,750.
Eclipse flights continue to spark the imagination, but it will be a long way until the achievement of Concorde 001 in 1973 can be surpassed.
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