"Chasing Eclipses: NASA's Historic Rocket Launch into Total Solar Eclipse"
NASA's APEP mission, named after the Egyptian god of darkness, will launch three sounding rockets into the ionosphere during the April 8 total solar eclipse to study potential disturbances. The rockets will travel up to 260 miles into the ionosphere, collecting information about charged and neutral particle density before, during, and after the eclipse. The mission aims to understand and predict disturbances in the ionosphere, crucial for smooth satellite communications. The launch will occur at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia and will be broadcast on the Wallops YouTube channel.