

Working Remotely: Normal Operations 2020 July 31: 03:30 Beginning at around 02:10 UT on July 31, the Smithsonian experienced a major Internet outage preventing access to most systems and websites. The MPC servers failed-over to back-ups, allowing limited activities to continue. As of 03:30 UT on July 31, all services have been restored.

The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the single worldwide location for receipt and distribution of positional measurements of minor planets, comets and outer irregular natural satellites of the major planets. The MPC is responsible for the identification, designation and orbit computation for all of these objects. This involves maintaining the master files of observations and orbits, keeping track of the discoverer of each object, and announcing discoveries to the rest of the world via electronic circulars and an extensive website. The MPC operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, under the auspices of Division F of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

All of the MPC's operating funds come from a NASA Near-Earth Object Observations program grant. Much of the computer equipment that the MPC uses was provided by the Tamkin Foundation.