NASA launched the Arcstone satellite into Earth orbit last year to calibrate imagery captured by hundreds of Earth observation satellites using measurements of lunar reflectance.
Arcstone's measurements are intended to allow faster detection of data trends, lower costs, and significantly increase data quality.
Arcstone will analyze sunlight reflected from the Moon to establish a universal reference that can fine-tune other spacecraft instruments while on-orbit.
On August 13, Arcstone began recording validated solar and lunar spectral measurements to refine the precision of lunar reflectance calibration from orbit.
NASA describes Arcstone's approach as a method to improve the accuracy of Earth-observing data while lowering mission complexity by reducing the need for onboard calibration systems.