NASA will allow astronauts to take smartphones to the moon

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman reported that participants of the Crew-12 and Artemis II missions will be able to take modern smartphones, including iPhones, with them into orbit and beyond. He published the relevant statement on the X social network, clarified that the innovation will begin to operate in the nearest flights.

According to Isaacman, the agency’s astronauts will soon go into space with current models of smartphones. He noted that the crews will receive tools to capture important moments in order to share photos and videos with loved ones and the public. The head of NASA emphasized that the ability to use modern devices will allow astronauts to document flights and daily work in orbit in a more convenient way.

Combating outdated rules and accelerating certification

As Isaacman noted, it is not only about creating visual content, but also about reviewing established procedures within the agency. According to him, NASA strives to abandon protracted processes and accelerate the certification of modern equipment for space flights. He believes that such urgency will allow the agency to work more effectively on scientific tasks both in orbit and within the framework of future lunar missions.

ArsTechnica points out that the problem of long-term qualification of equipment for space has existed for a long time. Before the device is approved for flight, NASA specialists conduct numerous checks: analyze the radiation resistance of the components, test the batteries under conditions of vacuum and extreme temperatures, study the possible effects of degassing and other factors. These requirements are due to security, but the management of the agency offers to simplify and speed up some procedures.

Obsolete equipment in previous missions

The complexity of certification processes led to the fact that, until recently, the crew of the historic Artemis II mission had cameras released many years ago. In particular, we were talking about a 2016 Nikon SLR camera and two ten-year-old GoPro cameras.

At the same time, smartphones have already appeared on the International Space Station. For example, in 2011, two iPhone 4s were delivered there, but there is no exact information whether the crew used them. During the last decade, astronauts on the ISS mainly used tablets to access the Internet and communicate with relatives.

Preparation for Artemis II mission

The Artemis II mission is to be the first manned flight within the Artemis program. It is planned that the expedition will last about ten days and will include a flyby of the Moon with the return of the crew to Earth on the Orion ship. The launch will be carried out using the Space Launch System rocket.

Initially, the launch was planned for February 2026, but the dates were adjusted after a general rehearsal, during which experts discovered a hydrogen leak at the base of the rocket. Additional checks and preparations led to the postponement of the launch.

The next stage of the program should be the Artemis III mission, which involves landing people on the moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. According to preliminary plans, two of the four astronauts who went to the Moon on the Orion spacecraft will transfer to the Starship lander and land near the south pole of the Earth’s satellite.

On the surface of the Moon, the crew will have to carry out a scientific program designed for more than six Earth days. After completing the work, the astronauts will return to Orion and return to Earth.