Air Force Academy cadets prepare to deploy into the path of upcoming solar eclipse

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo, (KRDO) -- United States Air Force Academy cadets are preparing to deploy into the path of totality as the upcoming total solar eclipse crosses North America on April 8.

The cadets are just one of approximately 40 groups supporting NASA research into the Sun's corona. Specifically, the teams intend to learn more about the corona's outer layers which are only visible during a total eclipse.

According to the Air Force Academy, nineteen cadets will, all members of the U.S. Air Force Academy Physics and Astronomy Club, and three faculty members will travel to Fredericksburg, Texas and McCleansboro, Illinois. Cadets will collect data using digital cameras, solar telescopes with specialized filters, polarization cameras, and event-based cameras.

Participation in the research will provide cadets with an environment which fosters hands-on learning, contribution to the body of scientific knowledge, and leadership experience in logistically challenging, time-sensitive data collection. Academy participants will be highlighted. Cadet and faculty participants will be named as co-authors in resulting research articles.

According to the Air Force Academy, understanding the solar corona as the "birth" of solar winds is extremely important to the United States Air Force and the United States Space Force. The interaction of strong solar winds with the Earth's magnetic field was responsible for the loss of 40 Starlink satellites in 2023.

The next solar eclipse will not be visible from the United States until 2044.