Artemis II astronauts among 1st to take smartphones to space

If you’ve been following NASA’s Artemis II mission, you’re probably already aware of all the milestones its intrepid crew of four astronauts are due to set.

Among the crew will be three trailblazers of spaceflight: the first woman, the first Black man and the first Canadian to venture within the vicinity of the moon. And all four of them are due to travel the farthest that any humans have ever been from Earth.

All worthy accolades, no doubt.

But there’s also another, less prestigious way in which the spacefarers are due to make a little bit of history: They’re among the first government astronauts to bring their iPhones and Androids into space.

Under a new NASA policy, astronauts on the space agency’s missions are now permitted to take the latest smartphones with them when they venture beyond the bounds of Earth. The updated guidelines for what crew members can bring with them on cosmic ventures went into effect ahead of the February launch of a SpaceX mission known as Crew-12.

That makes the Artemis II crew the second under the change able to take their personal phones to space.

The crew of Artemis II – NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover, and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen – are all carrying smartphones with them during their 10-day flight around the moon, a NASA spokesperson confirmed to USA Today.

The news comes about two months after NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced on social media that NASA astronauts were due to “soon fly with the latest smartphones.” The move was meant to challenge “long-standing processes” governing the type of hardware and technology considered safe for space travel.

The guidance was meant to make it easier for astronauts to document their celestial surroundings and “capture special moments for their families and share inspiring images and video with the world,” the NASA spokesperson said in a statement.

The spokesperson added that the smartphones the astronauts took with them went through a certification process “to ensure that the devices will be safe to use during flight.”

SpaceX Crew-12 also brought iPhones, Androids to space station

While NASA has certified smartphones for use during private astronaut missions in the past, NASA astronauts have not had access to iPhones and Androids before the policy shift.

The change meant that astronauts selected for a joint NASA and SpaceX mission known as Crew-12 were the first permitted to take iPhones and Android smartphones to space.

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, as well as the European Space Agency’s Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, arrived Feb. 14 for a nine-month mission at the International Space Station.

What photography equipment was approved before?

NASA astronauts with an interest in astral photography have long been able to capture and share stunning cosmic vistas on social media while in orbit. Those images and videos were formerly all produced with off-the-shelf technology like DSLR cameras, digital camcorders and tablets, according to NASA.

“The addition of smartphones to the agency’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission gives our crew members flexibility to quickly capture informal, organic moments in an effort to better share their mission’s story with the world,” NASA’s statement to USA Today read.

What’s next for moonbound Artemis II astronauts?

Expect the Artemis II astronauts to thoroughly document their journey around the moon, which they’re due to reach Monday, April 6, ⁠for a historic flyby after an April 1 launch from Florida.

That upcoming rendezvous would mark humanity’s first return near the moon since NASA’s Apollo era came to an end in 1972. While the Artemis II astronauts won’t land, their mission will serve as a vital test flight before humans step foot on the surface again as early as 2028.

Along the way, the Artemis II astronauts ⁠will make history by traveling farther from Earth than any humans ever before, breaking a record set during the infamous Apollo 13 mission in 1970. The mission will make Glover the first Black man to venture within the vicinity of the moon, while Koch will become the first woman and Hansen the first Canadian to do so.

The mission is projected to come to an end Friday, April 10, with a water landing in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California.