How does NASA study a solar eclipse? One way is with rockets! | Countdown to the Eclipse
Sounding rockets are well suited to study the dynamics of Earth’s ionosphere and a unique opportunity to do so was presented by the Annular Solar Eclipse on October 14, 2023 when three Black Brant IX sounding rockets were launched from White Sands Missile Range, NM to study the ionosphere before, during, and after the peak eclipse. Three additional rockets, with similar instrumentation, will be launched from Wallops Island, VA during the Total Solar Eclipse on April 8, 2024. The mission is called Atmospheric Perturbations around Eclipse Path or APEP. The acronym was chosen because Apep is also the name of the serpent god from ancient Egyptian cosmology, who pursued the sun god Ra and every so often nearly consumed him, resulting in an eclipse.
https://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse