A view of a total solar eclipse from space

Total Solar Eclipse Campaign in Iceland and Spain

The Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project (NEBP), led by PI Dr. Angela Des Jardins at Montana State University (MSU), will bring five teams to Iceland and Spain for the August 12, 2026 total solar eclipse (TSE). The five teams include highly motivated students and seasoned faculty with strong backgrounds in atmospheric science, varied engineering disciplines, and data analysis to ensure high-quality data collection and interpretation. In addition to their solid experience with high-altitude balloon launches and/or similar aerospace projects, all selected teams demonstrate technical competence and proven safety awareness.

Due to the terrain and anticipated weather, the two Atmospheric Science teams will conduct their campaign in Iceland and the three Engineering teams will go to Spain. Engineering teams will capture the eclipse shadow from a space-like perspective using 360-degree cameras and conduct two data-intensive observational experiments, as well as an outreach project with local Spanish schools or other STEM-related organizations. These experiments will be flown on six latex balloons (two per team) and payloads will be limited to 6 kg per balloon. The balloon payloads will communicate with key ground station systems, including flight-tracking. Atmospheric Science teams will examine tropopause and planetary boundary layer changes caused by the cold, dark shadow of the eclipse. Understanding these changes helps us better understand the atmosphere in general. Data will be collected by Graw radiosondes flown on 80 small balloons (40 per team). Flights will start 18 hours before and continue eight hours after the eclipse, with more frequent flights during sunrise, sunset, and the eclipse.

The National Eclipse Ballooning Project is supported by NASA's Science Mission Directorate Science Activation program and by NASA's Space Grant College and Fellowship program. (Award number 80NSSC22M0003)

20 people are posing at their balloon launch site

 

Participating teams

The five teams include the following. Each team brings partnerships with their local Space Grant Consortium and/or their institution for the support of 6-8 summer 2026 interns.

Engineering teams

  • Montana State University (MSU), led by Dr. Mike Walach
  • University of Bridgeport (UB) and University of Hartford (UH), led by Dr. Jani Macari Pallis and Dr. Nicholas Zoghb
  • University of North Florida (UNF), led by Dr. Nirmalkumar Patel and Dr. Himani Kaushal

Atmospheric Science teams

  • University of Idaho (UI), led by Dr. Matt Bernards
  • University of Kentucky (UK), led by Dr. Sean Bailey
A radio dish pointing toward the sky

Engineering Flights

Each of the three Engineering teams will fly two balloons carrying up to 6 kg. While we intend that each of the payloads described below will be flown on at least two balloons, not every team will fly every payload. Desired flight altitudes are anticipated to be between 90,000 and 120,000 feet (27 – 37 km). Due to the eclipse being at sunset, payload recovery will take place on the 13th.

  • Task 1: Examining the variation in ozone concentration during a TSE in Spain.

  • Task 2: Examining the effect of a TSE on radio communication using Long Range (LoRa) radio.

  • Task 3: Capture the Moon’s shadow on Earth from a near-space perspective with 360-degree cameras.

  • Task 4: Fly local Spanish students’ experiments.

A cartoon of four figures flying balloons and drone during a total solar eclipse

Atmospheric Science Campaign

The two Science teams will conduct the high-cadence radiosonde flight plan that has been demonstrated during past eclipses to be successful in delivering high-impact scientific measurements. Considering the rapid evolution of the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) during sunset and the eclipse overpass, we will add several more launches during those two periods to better capture the fast evolution.

The campaign will operate continuously for 30 hours, starting from 00:00 UTC on the 12th and ending at 06:00 UTC on the 13th, to cover the entire cycle of sunrise (05:00 UTC), TSE (16:40 – 18:50 UTC), and sunset (22:00 UTC) with added launches before and after to create the baseline for comparison. We will also collect high-temporal ground meteorological measurements to better assess cloud impacts and the fast surface layer response. 

  • Task 1: Examining Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) response to TSE and diurnal variation.
  • Task 2: Examining tropopause response to TSE and diurnal variation.

 

Maps

Check out this interactive map of the 2026 total eclipse path. Campaign locations coming soon!

Map of Europe with overlay of eclipse path

 

 

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