NASA’s Polarimeter to UNify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission aims to make groundbreaking 3D observations of the sun’s atmosphere and its impact on the solar system. The principal investigator, Craig DeForest ’89, has spent over half his life studying this phenomenon.
The PUNCH mission will send four suitcase-sized satellites into low Earth orbit to produce deep-field, continuous 3D images of the heliosphere. This will help scientists better understand how the sun’s corona and solar wind interact, which affects everything in the solar system, including Earth.
The public often overlooks space missions that don’t take astronauts to the moon, but Craig emphasizes that understanding our solar neighborhood is crucial. The mission builds on previous studies, such as the Solar Mass Ejection Imager and the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory.
PUNCH’s objectives include tracking coronal mass ejections, providing routine imagery of corotating interaction regions, and capturing shocks forming in the heliosphere. These structures can cause space weather that impacts Earth, disrupting power grids and satellites.
To meet its goals, PUNCH will need to capture images of objects a thousand times fainter than the galaxy, requiring an advanced system to block sunlight and separate extremely faint features. Despite these challenges, Craig is well-equipped with over 30 years of experience in solar physics research.
As principal investigator, Craig aims to leverage the mission for societal benefit by creating a robust outreach program. He emphasizes the importance of communicating scientific knowledge to wide audiences and broadening participation in STEM fields.
The PUNCH mission is scheduled to launch in April 2025 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. With its cutting-edge technology and ambitious objectives, PUNCH has the potential to unlock new secrets about our sun and solar system, revolutionizing our understanding of space weather and its effects on humanity.
Source: https://www.reed.edu/reed-magazine/articles/2024/discovery-craig-deforest-heliophysicist.html