--- title: "NASA Is Using Fitbits to Prevent COVID Spread Among Astronauts" description: "To prevent the spread of COVID-19 across its facilities, NASA is handing out Fitbit devices to 1,000 of its employees, including 150 astronauts." date: "2021-02-10" modified: "2021-02-10" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/nasa-fitbits-prevent-covid-spread-astronauts" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "NASA" - "Prosthetics and Devices" - "Space" tags: - "coronavirus" - "covid19" - "fitbit" - "fitness trackers" - "NASA" --- # NASA Is Using Fitbits to Prevent COVID Spread Among Astronauts ![To prevent the spread of COVID-19 across its facilities, NASA is handing out Fitbit devices to 1,000 of its employees, including 150 astronauts.]() *\Image: Fitbit\* To prevent the spread of COVID-19 across its facilities, [NASA is handing out Fitbit devices]() to 1,000 of its employees, including 150 astronauts. The wrist-worn devices can track several key health metrics, including body temperature. By logging all that data, the agency is hoping to get ahead of any outbreaks of COVID in any of its facilities, which stretch across the entire country. "There is evidence that resting heart rate data and other key health indicators from wearables have the potential to identify flu-like illness such as COVID-19 before symptoms emerge," a Fitbit [press release]() reads. "This is important because people can transmit the virus before they realize they have symptoms or when they have no symptoms at all." "Based on a user’s daily check-in, the solution will provide NASA employees with daily guidance to help them decide whether to go to work or stay home," the statement reads. For now, NASA envisions the project as a pilot and will evaluate the impacts of the program before expanding it to more of its employees. While there is no peer reviewed evidence that Fitbit devices are able to detect COVID early, the company is conducting research to investigate the question. The news comes after a study conducted by Mount Sinai found that the Apple Watch was [effectively able to predict positive COVID-19 cases]() up to a week before a PCR-based test came back positive — so there is precedent that wearables could help detect the illness. ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()