NASA satellites flown from staff homes during lockdown

Satellite operators are flying NASA spacecraft from their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic to help prevent transmissions.
Instead of the traditional mission operation centre - a room filled with control panels and screens - command for two of NASA's smaller satellites has gone digital to tackle COVID-19.
NASA's Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP) CubeSat and its Compact Infrared Radiometer in Space (CIRiS) instrument are being commanded from staff members' homes, due to the coronavirus social distancing guidelines.

HARP measures just 10cm by 10cm by 30cm. Pic: SDL

Both satellites are operated by the Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL), based at Utah State University. SDL built HARP, which measures just 10cm wide, 10cm high, and 30cm long.

The NASA-funded CubeSat collects vital information about clouds and aerosols, tiny particles in the atmosphere that help cloud droplets and ice particles to form.
It was designed by Professor Vanderlei Martins at the University of Maryland, after he decided to photograph the bright white clouds floating by while flying across the Pacific Ocean a few years ago.


"On a whim, he took out a polariser, similar to a sunglasses lens, and rotated it in front of his camera as he snapped photos," NASA says. "The result? 'I saw rainbows in the clouds,' Martins said."