--- title: "NASA Employees Are Running the Mars Curiosity Rover From Home" description: "The team behind NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover have not abandoned its lonely six-wheeled explorer amid the coronavirus pandemic — they’ve transitioned to controlling Curiosity from their home offices after NASA instructed its employees to work remotely.  " date: "2020-04-15" modified: "2020-04-15" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-employees-are-running-mars-curiosity-rover-from-home" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Mars" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "coronavirus" - "curiosity" - "mars" - "NASA" - "the digest" --- # NASA Employees Are Running the Mars Curiosity Rover From Home ![The team behind NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has transitioned to controlling the rover from their home offices amid the coronavirus outbreak.]() *\Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech\* ## Textbook NASA NASA hasn't abandoned its Curiosity Mars amid the coronavirus pandemic — instead, they've transitioned to controlling Curiosity from their home offices after NASA instructed its employees to work remotely, according to a [NASA update](). "It's classic, textbook NASA," said science operations team chief Carrie Bridge. "We're presented with a problem and we figure out how to make things work. Mars isn't standing still for us; we're still exploring." ## Telecommuting Two days after desks emptied out at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California last month, the Curiosity rover sprang into action, executing commands lined up by its human masters back on Earth. Its task: drilling a rock sample at a location called "Edinburgh." Its operators' new home-based HQs are now decked out with headsets, monitors, and plenty of other equipment, allowing them to remotely control a robot on a different planet. What didn't make the move however, is special 3D goggles that rapidly shift between the left and the right eye to view 3D images taken on the Red Planet. ## Expect Delays Tasks take about an hour or two longer than they normally would. The rest is business as usual — just online. "We're usually all in one room, sharing screens, images and data," said Alicia Allbaugh, who leads the team in [NASA statement](). "People are talking in small groups and to each other from across the room." **READ MORE:** [NASA's Curiosity Keeps Rolling As Team Operates Rover From Home]() \[NASA\] **More on Curiosity:** *[Scientists: NASA Rover Has Found Evidence of Ancient Life on Mars]()* ## 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]()