As millions of people across North, Central and South America tilt their heads skyward to watch the partial"ring of fire" solar eclipse tomorrow , NASA engineers will celebrate the once-in-a-decade event in their own way: By firing rockets directly at the eclipse's shadow.
Don't worry — the sun, moon and everyone watching will be just fine. According to NASA, the planned launch of three scientific rockets from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico is part of a purely scientific mission to study changes in Earth's upper atmosphere during the sudden plunge in daylight that eclipses bring.At its peak, Saturday's eclipse will see roughly 90% of the sun's light blocked by the moon.
Here, the sun's ultraviolet radiation rips electrons away from atoms, forming a vast sea of charged particles throughout the day; at sundown, many of these electrons recombine into neutral atoms, until the sun's morning rays return and split them apart again.
Following that, the team won't get another chance to shoot rockets at the moon's shadow until 2044, when the next total solar eclipse arrives.