With his strategy accepted, Léna started arranging experiments for the historical flight. Flying at almost 17 km above the Earth’s surface area had numerous advantages. “Flying extremely high in the stratosphere had numerous benefits, consisting of no humidity, which suggested an exceptional infrared transmission of the solar light.”

“I had actually prepared an experiment to study the particles of dust in the corona in the infrared wavelengths. It would have been presumptuous to utilize this huge airplane just for a single experiment. The very first thing we did, after we got a sensation that the task would go ahead, was to propose to other clinical groups in France, the UK, and the United States a seat on this flight to bring their own observations,” he stated.

Constructing a group

While Léna was from the Paris Observatory, the other researchers originated from the French National Centre for Scientific Research; Queen Mary College in London; Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona; Los Alamos National Laboratory; and the University of Aberdeen.

The primary objective of this task was to utilize the long totality to study the solar corona at various wavelengths, as the entire corona is just noticeable throughout an overall eclipse. According to Léna, the experiments consisted of studying the dust in the corona (which was releasing infrared radiation), studying the oscillating hot gas in the corona, and studying the chromosphere.

To accommodate these experiments, the Concorde 001 model went through substantial adjustments, especially the development of 4 portholes in the ceiling, with one committed window for each experiment. Those portholes are unmissable even today. They can be seen while strolling down the aisle of the airplane.

With the experiments and the group of researchers selected, 2 rehearsal flights were carried out before the real flight, which removed from Las Palmas in the Canary Islands for a rendezvous with the eclipse shadow over Mauritania.