PUNCH
Overview
The Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission is a NASA small-explorer (SMEX) mission: its primary science goal is to fully discern the cross-scale physical processes that unify the solar corona and heliosphere.RAL Space involvement
RAL Space, the UK science lead for PUNCH, will provide the detector systems for four visible-light cameras, one hosted on each of the four suitcase-sized spacecraft, as well as performing calibration on the imagery once the mission has been launched.
Schematic of the PUNCH constellation -four satellites that are studying how the Sun’s corona (outer atmosphere) evolves into the heliosphere (the solar wind). Credit: Image Courtesy of Southwest Research Institute
