NASA’s Administrator has stated that smartphones will accompany the Crew-12 and Artemis II astronauts on their missions.
Jared Isaacman posted on X (formerly Twitter): “We are giving our crews the tools to capture special moments for their families and share inspiring images and video with the world.”
He added: “We challenged long-standing processes and qualified modern hardware for spaceflight on an expedited timeline.”
Isaacman did not elaborate on how those long-standing processes had been challenged. It certainly isn’t the first time smartphones have been flown in space, and astronauts regularly use tablets for following procedures and other tasks.
Taking a device into space has traditionally required it to be thoroughly tested beforehand. For example, there is the question of outgassing and how the device might interfere with other equipment. One space agency source directed The Register to the MIL-STD-461 standard for electromagnetic equipment, saying: “Normally they nerf all the RF capabilities, so they just become a pocket computer.”
It’s not clear what has happened with the “latest smartphones” (widely reported to be iPhones) Isaacman mentioned. The Register asked NASA, and will update this piece should the agency respond.
Potential interference from the device’s GSM radio is likely the most significant concern, although our source said: “They [the crew] won’t be calling on them.” Other consumer-grade devices, such as the Raspberry Pi computers used in the AstroPi project, eschew wireless connectivity altogether.
Smartphones have been on the ISS before. In 2015, the European Space Agency (ESA) showcased the mobiPV system, a cross-platform platform that allowed astronauts to access procedure lists on the go. One device type was a wrist-mounted smartphone.
Isaacman’s real thrust is to challenge NASA’s often long-winded processes and identify room for improvement. Taking advantage of a modern smartphone camera rather than something older and heftier is an easy win. For example, the Nikon Z9 camera planned for Artemis III will be almost a decade old by the time the mission launches, and technology will have advanced in the intervening years. ®