NASA’s PUNCH Satellites Deployed
Deployment of the PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission’s four satellites has occurred.
Following a 90-day commissioning period, the PUNCH mission is scheduled to conduct science for at least two years.
NASA’s PUNCH will observe the Sun’s corona as it transitions into the solar wind, supporting NASA Science’s key goals by creating a broad awareness and understanding of how the Sun creates conditions that influence Earth and space, which is increasingly part of the human domain.
By providing scientists with new information about how these potentially disruptive solar events form and evolve, data from PUNCH could lead to more accurate prediction about the arrival and impact of such events on Earth and for humanity’s robotic explorers in space.
Starting in about 20 minutes, PUNCH mission teams will start the process of acquiring signals from each of the four spacecraft to confirm they are functioning nominally.
For continued updates on the PUNCH mission, visit the mission blog:
