Two universities in Hartford and Bridgeport will join NASA to live-stream Aug. 21’s historic total solar eclipse on Aug. 21, the organizations say.
For the first time in 99 years, a total solar eclipse will envelope much of the nation that day, darkening 14 states for two minutes.
The eclipse will not be seen in Connecticut, but NASA’s Connecticut space grant team comprised of students and faculty from the universities of Hartford and Bridgeport will participate in bringing the experience to the nation.
Live footage from the camera will be available for public viewing on NASA’s website on the day of the eclipse.
“This is truly an interdisciplinary project that involves hardware, software, regulations, and management which will provide great learning experience to our students,” said the director of NASA’s team, Hisham Alnajjar. He also leads a design team on this project at the University of Hartford.
In addition to a video camera, the team’s balloons will carry a GPS tracking system, a camera to capture still images of the eclipse, and a small “bacterial coupon” as part of a NASA astrobiology experiment. Once the eclipse has passed, the balloon will burst and the payloads will parachute to Earth.
