Coronavirus blockade: NASA team operates curiosity from home

Blocking the coronavirus has caused large numbers of the workforce to run businesses from home to avoid coming into contact with the deadly virus. The work from home protocol extends to various organizations, including NASA. As a result, NASA’s Curiosity rover is now being operated by a team that works from home.

NASA Rover Curiosity monitored from home

NASA’s Curiosity team has adapted to the unprecedented situation to continue to drive the multi-million dollar rover on another planet. “It was the first time the rover’s operations were planned while the team was completely remote,” said the blog post from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The Curiosity rover has continued to explore Mars despite the ongoing pandemic on Earth. Typically, the Curiosity team involves hundreds of people talking about their findings. The team has now managed to continue operations without any of them meeting in person.

“Normally we are all in one room, sharing screens, images and data,” said team principal Alicia Allbaugh. Now, the team is not only dispersed in different rooms, but has different schedules and computer configurations. Allbaugh notes that he is monitoring around 15 chat channels at all times and juggling more than he normally would.

Adapt to complexities

It should be noted that hardware is not the only part of the equation, NASA notes. “Typically, JPL team members work with hundreds of scientists at research institutions around the world to decide where to conduct Curiosity and how to bring their science together. Working somewhere remote from those scientists is not new. But working apart Other people’s generally JPL-based is, “the post explains.

Allbaugh also notes that there are multiple video calls at once. Some processes that were previously performed on high-performance workstations are now performed on laptops and web services. But although the added complexity makes the planning process less efficient, the results are still coming.

The Curiosity rover was found to drive up to a rock, drill a sample, and send confirmation to the team on Earth, something that was done regularly and work continues. “Mars is not standing for us; we are still exploring,” Allbaugh said.