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Eclipse Ambassadors Engage Communities Off the Path

From Hawaii to Maine, 700+ Ambassadors for the NASA Science Activation program's Eclipse Ambassadors Off the Path project held more than 1200 events in locations ranging from senior centers to churches to food pantries. At these events, Eclipse Ambassadors helped spread the word about the April 8th, 2024 solar eclipse to communities that otherwise might have missed the excitement, with a particular focus on reaching the majority of the country who would experience a partial solar eclipse.

Ambassadors worked mostly in local partnerships made up of a college student and an eclipse enthusiast. Together, they received training in the safety, science, and engagement techniques for sharing their passion with the public through the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. They then helped get the word out, along with safe solar viewing glasses and hands-on education materials, to more than 200,000 people total! Ambassadors drew from their diverse backgrounds, with native speakers of 40+ languages, and incorporated their passions such as flying, playing harp, and modeling into their public engagement efforts.

Eclipse Ambassadors created videos in 12 different languages to broaden the impact in a simple, accessible way.

This was an amazing and exhausting community- wide event that reached so many people. It was great seeing such a diverse group of people from our community come together for science!

Eclipse Ambassadors Off the Path is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number 80NSS22M0007 and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn

Nine young children sitting on a blanket outside using paper plate eclipse viewers to see the sun.
Four year olds can enjoy solar eclipses too, thanks to Eclipse Ambassadors.
Teri Hurtuk

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Last Updated
May 07, 2024
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NASA Science Editorial Team

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