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Last month,

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thousands of people

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00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:04,033
along the East Coast

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00:00:04,033 --> 00:00:05,066
of the United States

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witnessed a total eclipse

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of the Sun

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by the Moon,

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an event

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that will not again

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be visible in North America

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in this century.

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00:00:12,866 --> 00:00:14,400
At Wallops Island, Virginia,

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00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:15,333
NASA scientists

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00:00:15,333 --> 00:00:16,300
and technicians

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00:00:16,300 --> 00:00:17,366
prepared and launched

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some 31 sounding rockets.

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Apache, Cajun,

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00:00:21,900 --> 00:00:24,166
Iroquois, Tomahawk,

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small rockets

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00:00:25,366 --> 00:00:26,633
ranging in size from

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8 to 11 feet.

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Six Earth-orbiting

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00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:30,833
satellites already

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in space

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00:00:31,866 --> 00:00:32,700
made measurements

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00:00:32,700 --> 00:00:34,266
from their vantage points.

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The studies of the solar event

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were designed to learn

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more about the effects

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00:00:37,966 --> 00:00:40,133
of the Sun on the atmosphere

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and the region of

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space near Earth.

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Although the eclipse

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was at its peak

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at 1:38 p.m.

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on March 7th,

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the researchers began

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firing their rocket probes

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into the sky

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early in the morning,

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00:00:52,300 --> 00:00:54,033
the day before the eclipse,

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00:00:54,266 --> 00:00:55,633
and continued the launchings

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00:00:55,633 --> 00:00:57,200
through the following day.

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This allowed scientists

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00:00:58,533 --> 00:00:59,766
to make comparisons

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00:00:59,766 --> 00:01:00,766
before, during,

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00:01:00,766 --> 00:01:02,266
and after the event.

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The eclipse provided

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a unique opportunity

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to study a sudden changes

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in the Sun’s radiation,

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which affects the Earth,

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changes that usually

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take place

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slowly as day turns to night.

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It will be several months

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before the mountains of data

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returned by

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the sounding rockets

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can be completely analyzed.