Earth Sun ID: 12646

2017 Solar Eclipse Press Conference

Released on June 21, 2017

For the first time in 99 years, a total solar eclipse will cross the entire nation Aug. 21. Representatives from NASA, other federal agencies, and science organizations, will provide important viewing safety, travel and science information during two briefings at the Newseum in Washington starting at 1 p.m. EDT Wednesday, June 21.

The event will air live on NASA Television and stream on the agency’s website.

Over the course of 100 minutes, 14 states across the United States will experience more than two minutes of darkness in the middle of the day. Additionally, a partial eclipse will be viewable across all of North America. The eclipse will provide a unique opportunity to study the sun, Earth, moon and their interaction because of the eclipse’s long path over land coast to coast. Scientists will be able to take ground-based and airborne observations over a period of an hour and a half to complement the wealth of data and images provided by space assets.

The June 21 briefings are:

Logistics Briefing: 1 to 2 p.m.

Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters in Washington

Vanessa Griffin, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Satellite and Product Operations in Suitland, Maryland

Brian Carlstrom, deputy associate director of Natural Resource Stewardship and Science at the National Park Service in Washington

Martin Knopp, associate administrator of the Office of Operations in the Federal Highway Administration at the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington

Science Briefing: 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Thomas Zurbuchen

Angela Des Jardins, principal investigator of the Eclipse Ballooning Project at Montana State University, Bozeman

Angela Speck, professor of astrophysics and director of astronomy at the University of Missouri, Columbia

Dave Boboltz, program director of solar physics in the Division of Astronomical Sciences at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Virginia

Linda Shore, executive director of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in San Francisco

Matt Penn, astronomer at the National Solar Observatory in Tucson, Arizona

The Total Eclipse of the Sun Forever Stamp, which commemorates the Aug. 21, 2017, eclipse, transforms into an image of the moon from the heat of a finger. For more information visit The United States Postal Service.

Wearing eclipse glasses is vital when looking directly at the sun. Credit: National Park Service. For more information visit the National Park Service.

Animals can react to eclipses -- such as this bird during an annular eclipse --as if it's nighttime. Credit: AAS

Multiple eclipse shadows cast on the ground due to sunlight from an eclipse filtering through tree leaves. Credit: AAS

A combined image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (center) and ESA/NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (outer) shows solar radiation streaming off the sun out into space. Credit: NASA/ESA/SDO/SOHO