Total Solar Eclipse of 1973 June 30
from the Concorde 001 flight
The Concorde 001, which remained in the umbra of the Moon for nearly 74 minutes during the 1973 June 30 total solar eclipse, was flown by test pilot André Turcat†2016 and equipped with specialized equipment to study the solar corona. To benefit from the extraordinary speed of the Concorde, the French teams lead by Pierre Léna and Serge Koutchmy plus others on board had setup various measuring instruments and cameras to track the shadow of the Moon moving over the Sahara Desert at a speed of Mach 2 (over 2,200 km/h or 1,370 mph) and at an altitude of 17,000 meters (56,000 ft), allowing to multiply by ten the duration of totality. By flying inside the umbral shadow cone of the Moon at the same speed, the Concorde was going to stay in the darkness for nearly 74 minutes, the time for astronomers and physicists on board to do all the experiences they could imagine to complete during this incredible period of black Sun. They were able to achieve in one hour and fifteen minutes what would have taken decades by observing fifteen total solar eclipses from places that would have not necessarily gotten clear skies. The next Concorde eclipse flight occurred in 1999. For the 40th anniversary of this historic flight, a permanant exhibit will be open to the public starting on 2013 June 30 at the Le Bourget Air and Space Museum near Paris, France. Having been invited for the inauguration on June 29th, a few pictures are now available.
Simulation, done with Solar Eclipse Maestro, of Concorde 001 flight during the 1973 June 30 Total Solar Eclipse
[requires an H.264/MPEG-4 decoder: Windows users can install the Windows Essentials Codec Pack]
Postcard of Concorde 001 during the 1973 June 30 Total Solar Eclipse
1973 Eclipse Concorde 001 (duration: 5 minutes 44 seconds)
[requires an H.264/MPEG-4 decoder: Windows users can install the Windows Essentials Codec Pack]
Concorde 001 flight during the 1973 June 30 Total Solar Eclipse in Google Earth
Takeoff of Concorde 001 F-WTSS from Las Palmas, in the Canary Islands, on its way to intercept the 1973 June 30 Total Solar Eclipse path
Moon’s umbral shadow velocity over the 80 minutes when the Concorde 001 was inside the path of totality
TSE 1973 Moon’s umbral shadow apex location shift depending on the altitude and time (with reference to sea level)
On 2013 June 29th a permanent exhibit on the Concorde 001, which remained in the umbra of the Moon for nearly 74 minutes during the 1973 June 30 total solar eclipse, was inaugurated at the Le Bourget Air and Space Museum, outside of Paris. The following pictures were taken on that day.
Nose of Concorde 001 F-WTSS at the Le Bourget Air and Space Museum, outside of Paris
Concorde ‘73 exhibit acknowledgments
Donald Connolly painting for Concorde 001 Eclipse ‘73
Concorde 001 Eclipse ‘73 participants
(from left to right: Michel Rétif, John E. Beckman, Donald Liebenberg, André Turcat†2016, Alain Soufflot, Paul Wraight, Pierre Léna, Donald Hall)
Aircrafts for astronomers and eclipse chasers
Total solar eclipses: beauty and science
Concorde 001 Eclipse ‘73: an astronomer’s dream
Concorde 001 Eclipse ‘73: 1973 June 30
Concorde and science
Concorde 001 Eclipse ‘73: rendez-vous with the Moon
Concorde 001 Eclipse ‘73: IAP experiment
Concorde 001 Eclipse ‘73: IAP experiment
Concorde 001 Eclipse ‘73: IAP instrument
Concorde 001 Eclipse ‘73: roof opening for the IAP instrument
Concorde 001 Eclipse ‘73: Aberdeen University instrument
Concorde 001 Eclipse ‘73: Paris and Kitt Peak observatories instrument
Concorde 001 Eclipse ‘73: front inside
Concorde 001 Eclipse ‘73: cockpit
Concorde 001 Eclipse ‘73: front inside
Concorde 001 F-WTSS and F-BTSD at the Le Bourget Air and Space Museum, outside of Paris
(the F-BTSD, also known as Sierra Delta, holds the world record for flying around the world in both directions, eastbound and westbound)
Those reading french can also refer to the article written by Pierre Léna and André Turcat†2016 in the monthly issue of l’Astronomie of June 2013. It’s a good opportunity to mention that the first observation of a solar eclipse from an aircraft was done by a frenchman named Michel Mahieu with his own Voisin "military type" during the hybrid of 17 April 1912 to the west of Paris (read the article by Robert Morris in the June 2013 issue of l’Astronomie magazine).
L’Astronomie of June 2013: cover page
L’Astronomie of June 2013: Birth of astronomy from an aircraft in 1912 (article by Robert Morris)
L’Astronomie of June 2013: Concorde WTSS-001 "Racing the Umbra for a Prey" (article by Pierre Léna and André Turcat†2016)
André Turcat†2016, test pilot of Concorde 001, and Xavier Jubier in conversation
(photo by Pierre Léna)
Donald Liebenberg, from the Los Alamos Laboratory, and Xavier Jubier
(photo by Jean Mouette/IAP-CNRS-UPMC)
Excerpt from the Alan Sidi "A Line to the Sun" film about the eclipse cruise of the MV Monte Umbe off the coast of west Africa: part speaking about the Concorde 001 at the Santa Cruz de La Palma airport
Pierre Léna with his lastest book on the Concorde 001 during the Paris Book Fair 2014
(book reference: Concorde 001 et l’ombre de la Lune)
On 2015 March 20, for the 2015 total solar eclipse, I did have the pleasure to organize multiple stratospheric eclipse flights at 49,000 feet (14,935 meters). These new flights, after the record setter one in November 2013 out of Bermuda that intercepted the lunar umbral shadow racing at 8,400 mph (13,500 kph), did also go into the record books as the second highest in history after the ones of the Concorde in 1973 and 1999.