Alan Hale, co-discoverer of the Hale-Bopp comet, will lead a private delegation of 12 American scientists, students, and educators to Iran to view the August 11 total solar eclipse.

The group will tour the country for two weeks, and will set up to view the eclipse in the city of Isfahan, about 150 miles south of Tehran, Hale said. It will be the centurys last solar eclipse, blacking out parts of eastern Canada, Europe, the Middle East and India.

The delegation plans to leave on August 12, but has not yet received its visas from Iran, Hale said.

The trip comes as relations between the U.S. and Iran hover in tension. The U.S. Department of State warns all Americans to avoid travel to Iran.

But Hale said he is not worried, and that he expects a warm reception in the country.

"I subscribe to 'one planet, one people," he said. "There's a bit of mistrust between the governments, bad feelings on both sides, but people over there are people. And hopefully by meeting my counterparts in another part of the world we can start easing the mistrust between peoples."

The delegation includes Apollo 9 Astronaut Russell Schweickart, and a 16-year old high school student from Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, who has corresponded with Hale about astronomy issues.

Hale said he chose Iran because it offered the best chances for clear skies. The trip has been coordinated with the Zirakzadeh Science Foundation in Tehran, he said.