NRL’s narrow field imager launches on NASA’s PUNCH mission

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s (NRL) Narrow Field Imager (NFI) was launched into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as a part of NASA’s Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission on March 11 and deployed from Falcon 9 on March 12.

PUNCH is a four-satellite constellation, collecting observations in low Earth orbit. It will conduct global, 3D observations of the inner heliosphere to investigate the solar corona’s evolution into the solar wind. The mission is scheduled to conduct science for the next two years, following a 90-day commissioning period.

The NRL-developed NFI, sponsored by NASA, is a compact, externally occulted coronagraph. The external occulter blocks direct sunlight from entering the main optical aperture, which views the corona and starfield around the sun using a compound lens system. Polarization is resolved using a polarizing filter wheel and the image is digitized using a CCD camera with a 2K x 2K active detector area.

NFI will image the transition of the sun’s atmosphere to the solar wind to understand how the sun generates the space plasma environment.

“The launch and deployment of NRL’s Narrow Field Imager aboard the PUNCH mission marks a significant step forward in our ability to understand the dynamic processes that drive space weather,” said NRL Coronal and Heliospheric Physics Section Head Robin Colaninno, Ph.D.

“By imaging the transition of the sun’s atmosphere to the solar wind, we’re gaining crucial insights that will ultimately improve our ability to predict and mitigate the impacts of these powerful events on Earth and in space.”

Predicting the impact of space weather, from minor fluctuations to major coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and corotating interaction regions (CIRs), requires a comprehensive understanding of the solar wind. While originating at the sun, these events evolve significantly on their journey to Earth, especially within the sparsely imaged region between the solar corona and inner heliosphere, posing a significant scientific challenge.

By capturing the evolution of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), PUNCH will provide scientists with new data on their formation and propagation. This is essential for understanding and predicting these events, which can cause significant disruptions on Earth, including satellite damage, radio communication blackouts, and power grid failures. Enhanced predictions will also safeguard robotic explorers operating in interplanetary space.