On Sunday afternoon, the Cal Poly Physics Department hosted a NASA Pre-Launch event, complete with astronomy presentations, family activities, and demonstrations.
The event was held ahead of NASA's Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission, which aims to send four small satellites into space that will study the sun's solar wind using 3D images.
The mission is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Feb. 28.
Nicholeen Viall, a scientist working on the PUNCH mission and a heliophysicist at NASA, presented to attendees at Sunday's gathering.
She said that one of the purposes of the pre-launch event was to generate interest among Cal Poly students.
"NASA launches missions that do things that no one else can do," Viall said. "We need the best and brightest brains, and so that's why we are [...] reaching out to students, trying to get as many people as possible interested in PUNCH and interested in NASA."
The scientist added that the upcoming mission will be critical in the development and understanding of space technology.
"We are just so excited for the PUNCH mission and what it's going to do for space weather and for understanding our sun that we all have to live with," Viall said.
