Dennis

F-WTSS, unit 001, was the first of two prototype models built, and was the first Concorde ever to fly on 2nd March 1969. Though its components differed significantly from those of production Concordes and it never saw commercial service, F-WTSS enjoyed sporadic operation in the early 70s for various high speed and high altitude scientific testing.

One such scientific mission occurred in 1973 during a total solar eclipse over the equatorial Atlantic and Saharan Africa. The airframe was modified to include four portholes in the ceiling, enabling scientists onboard to observe and record the total eclipse, which from the ground would last a crazy long seven minutes. With its cruising speed of 202% the speed of sound (about 1,400mph/2,250kph), the Concorde could happily chase the moon's shadow across the surface of the earth, enabling its occupants to experience an unprecedented 74 minutes of totality.

Additionally, from the jet's crusing altitude of 60,000 ft above sea level, the clarity of the eclipse was unlike any experienced before. Combined with the extended time, this flight provided more scientific data on solar activity than any single solar eclipse could have previously. And here, in this photo, most likely taken through a telescope by Arthur Gibson, such a special event was captured at an absolutely precisely perfect moment, with the mighty jet passing just over the "diamond ring" at the very edge of the totality.

No Concorde has flown since 2003. Unit 001, F-WTSS, now sits in a museum in Bourget, France, still outfitted with its eclipse-viewing portholes. No aircraft flying today has the availability or the onboard space to host a scientific venture while keeping up with an eclipse, as the few fast enough are all military with very small crew spaces and "better" things to do than conduct civillian science. No civilian jet today flies this fast, or this high, and it's not even close. That's why this photo feels so incredibly important to me: not only is it a one-in-a-million snap of a rare event, it's also a great shot of something that will never happen again.

(At least not any time soon.)