There (70 ◦ S @ 10,177 m) and Back Again, An Umbraphile’s Tale

• Main Authors: C. Gabriel, C. Arviset, D. Ponz, E. Solano, Glenn Schneider
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.65.5451; http://nicmosis.as.arizona.edu:8000/PUBLICATIONS/ADASSXV.pdf

Abstract. Until 23 Nov 2003, no total solar eclipse (TSE) had ever been observed from the Antarctic. Yet, interest in securing observations of that event, visible only from the Antarctic, was extremely high and provided the impetus for breaking that paradigm of elusivity in the historical record of science and exploration. The execution of a lunar shadow intercept and the conduction of an observing program from a Boeing 747-400 ER aircraft over the Antarctic interior permitted the previously unobtainable to be accomplished. The unique computational and navigational requirements for this flight are discussed from the enabling perspective of control and data acquisition S/W specifically developed for this task. 1.