State officials had the chance to speak to an astronaut from Syracuse at the International Space Station ahead of the total solar eclipse, which will darken the skies over Rochester on Monday, April 8.

Dr. Jeanette Epps will be among one of the few groups of astronauts to ever see a total solar eclipse from space. Gov. Kathy Hochul spoke to her virtually this morning. She explained how those onboard the ISS will be able to experience the astronomical event.

“What we can see mainly is the shadow of the eclipse over the Earth as it passes through,” Epps said. “So we won’t be able to look directly at the sun and see the eclipse that way. But what we’ll see and what we’re looking for is to see the shadow as it crosses over the Earth.”

Astronauts on board the ISS will also be conducting experiments to send back to Earth during totality.

News10NBC is Rochester’s Eclipse Headquarters. You can see our complete eclipse coverage here and a list of more eclipse viewing parties here. The skies will start to darken in Rochester at 2:07 p.m. Totality will begin at 3:20 p.m. and will last for 3 minutes and 38 seconds in the city.