Nasa solar satellite cameras developed by UK company
Solar wind is usually harmless, and is responsible for producing the Northern and Southern Lights displays.However, severe solar storms can interfere with aspects of everyday life including GPS systems, power grids, and vital global communications on Earth.
The Nasa mission aims to explore how solar wind evolves as it expands outwards from the the Sun's atmosphere into the wider solar system.It's hoped that by capturing images of the Sun's corona and the solar wind together, scientists will be able to better understand a region of space known as the inner heliosphere.The region is effectively a vast magnetic bubble that surrounds the Sun that is formed by the solar wind.
As part of the operation, scientists, engineers and technicians from RAL Space have developed four specialised cameras that the company said would "capture a new perspective of the evolving solar wind".Once the spacecraft are in orbit, RAL Space will also be responsible for making sure the equipment on the satellites can provide accurate measurements back to Earth.
Dr Jackie Davies, from RAL Space, said the latest mission built on the company's "extensive heritage in leading, and contributing to, solar and solar wind imaging instruments".He said the company was "thrilled" to be working alongside Nasa and over US based teams on the "pioneering" project.He added that he "can't wait to see what new insights our technological and scientific input will reveal in the coming months".Nasa's Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission is set to launch in the early hours of Friday, UK time.The four ten-and-a-half stone (67kg) satellites will orbit the Earth for the duration of the mission, which is expected to last two years.
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