After more than \u00a050 years\u00a0 of silence from sonic booms, the United States has recently decided to open its skies<\/a> to \u00a0supersonic flight\u00a0 over land once again. An executive order signed by Trump has overturned the 1973 regulation prohibiting these operations on U.S. soil, a decision made in response to public complaints about the deafening noise produced by aircraft breaking the sound barrier, which can reach up to \u00a0110 decibels\u00a0.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In that very year, a Concorde made its way to \u00a0Gran Canaria\u00a0 to make history<\/a>.<\/p>\n Concorde in the Canaries.<\/strong> On June 30, 1973, Spain became part of one of the most \u00a0unusual and ambitious scientific experiments\u00a0 ever undertaken to study the Sun: a \u00a0supersonic flight\u00a0 of the Concorde that followed the \u00a0shadow of a solar eclipse\u00a0 over Africa. The geographical location of the Canaries, perfectly aligned with the eclipse\u2019s trajectory<\/a>, allowed the country to take part in an international operation led by scientists from the United States, France, and the United Kingdom, with logistical collaboration from the Spanish Air Force.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n On that day, the Concorde prototype, still not in commercial service, took off from Gran Canaria after landing on June 27 with the island shrouded in haze. Its mission was not to transport passengers but to serve as a \u00a0flying observatory\u00a0 capable of staying within the lunar shadow for a record time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Supersonic Laboratory.<\/strong> The mission, developed and coordinated from \u00a0Toulouse\u00a0, transformed Concorde 001<\/a> into an \u00a0unprecedented scientific platform\u00a0. Its fuselage was modified by drilling its roof and installing quartz crystals that enabled cameras to capture infrared emissions from the sun without distortion from over \u00a017,000 meters\u00a0 altitude.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While the British initially opposed modifying the aircraft, Air France enthusiastically accepted its temporary conversion into a \u00a0flying laboratory\u00a0. Inside, there were few seats as scientists had to hold on during maneuvers in a cramped space adapted for minimal observations. The rudimentary preparations, including manually cleaning the windows before takeoff, contrasted sharply with the \u00a0scientific magnitude of the challenge\u00a0 they faced: recording phenomena that were impossible to see from the Earth\u2019s surface due to \u00a0atmospheric distortion\u00a0.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n