NASA's cockpit footage of the August 12 eclipse places a small dark Sun above a pilot's helmet. The landscape and clouds spread below the aircraft, while the eclipse appears through the canopy. The aircraft's perspective places the eclipse above the clouds.
The 2026 eclipse path crossed parts of northern Russia, Greenland, Iceland, the Atlantic, Spain, and a small corner of Portugal. Other parts of the Northern Hemisphere saw a partial eclipse.
Why NASA took a plane
In its coverage announcement, NASA described a science team using a WB-57 high-altitude aircraft to chase the Moon's shadow and investigate the Sun's corona. That outer atmosphere becomes visible during totality when the Moon blocks the bright solar disk.
The agency's released imagery documents the flight from Keflavik Airport in Iceland and the eclipse observations. The collection includes cockpit footage, takeoff video, and views from SAMI, a camera mounted on the aircraft's nose to study the corona.
Those are different records of the same mission. The cockpit view supplies the human perspective and the aircraft's surroundings. The instrument view concentrates on the solar target.
Watch the official eclipse introduction
NASA also prepared an official trailer explaining the event. It is a useful companion to the flight imagery for readers who want the route and observing context before opening the larger archive.
The archive offers several resolutions and formats, with file sizes listed beside the downloads. Some video files run into gigabytes. Start with a web preview or still image before selecting a full-resolution movie on a phone connection.
