Aroh Barjatiya, an Indian American scientist, led a NASA mission studying the April 8 solar eclipse’s impact on Earth’s Ionosphere, the upper atmosphere. As a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, Barjatiya oversaw the launch of three sounding rockets from Wallops Island, Virginia, during the eclipse.
In a LinkedIn post, Barjatiya expressed gratitude for the successful launches and highlighted the collaboration between researchers, students, and NASA. The APEP Eclipse Rocket Campaign, involving six complex rocket missions in six months, yielded a wealth of data for analysis.
Barjatiya’s research interests range from small satellites to spacecraft charging, and he is currently involved in multiple missions, including a NASA Mars mission. Understanding how eclipses affect atmospheric waves in the ionosphere is a primary focus for Barjatiya and his team, as noted in a University of Florida press release.
NASA launched three Black Brant IX sounding rockets as part of the APEP mission, collecting data on how the eclipse impacts the ionosphere, crucial for understanding Earth’s atmospheric interactions. The ionosphere plays a vital role in radio communication and satellite operations, making it essential to study disturbances and develop predictive models.
Each rocket carried multiple sub-payloads, providing a total of 12 datasets for analysis. With the next total solar eclipse over the contiguous US not until 2044, the data collected from this mission will be invaluable for future research and preparations.
