Earlier this year, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman confirmed that astronauts on the Artemis II mission will be allowed to “fly using the latest smartphones.” now, new york times We report on what was necessary to achieve this.
No connection, only photos and videos
Right now, four iPhone 17 Pro Max are flying toward the moon at about 25,000 miles per hour.
While this isn’t the first time an iPhone has been used on a space mission, Artemis II is the first time NASA has given each crew member an iPhone to take photos and videos.
Apple said it was not involved in NASA’s process to approve iPhones for the Artemis II mission. The company said this mission was the first to confirm that the iPhone is fully qualified for long-term use in orbit and beyond.
In fact, all you can do with your device is take photos and videos, as NASA confirms that: times “I can’t connect to the Internet or use Bluetooth.”
But getting them to escape was not an easy task, according to the report.
“Typically, there are four stages in the process, said Tobias Niederwieser, research assistant professor at BioServ Space Technologies. The first stage introduces the hardware into the safety panel. The second stage identifies potential hazards in the hardware, from moving parts to materials that can shatter, such as glass. The third stage develops a plan to address such hazards.4 The second step is to prove that the plan works.”
iPhone 17 Pro Max has Ceramic Shield 2 on the front and Ceramic Shield on the back. According to Apple, Ceramic Shield 2 is “harder than any smartphone glass.”
But shatterability wasn’t the only thing NASA had to consider. now Report:
This process is aimed at protecting both the crew and the spacecraft, he said. In microgravity “fully sealed capsules”, the effects of gravity are so reduced that the hardware operates in conditions that are completely different from those on Earth, where objects appear weightless or free-falling. Case in point: NASA discussed using Velcro to attach cell phones to the Orion capsule, the agency said. At least one cell phone was zipped into the leg pocket of the flight suit before the launch.
In the video below, you can see an iPhone 17 Pro Max stuffed into astronaut Jeremy Hansen’s suit.
Despite its bespoke role, it’s not the only camera on the four iPhones. The crew also had access to four GoPro Hero 11 cameras and two Nikon D5 bodies, one of which captured a striking image of Earth lit by a full moon.
It remains to be seen whether the Artemis II crew will use iPhones to take similarly great photos and videos.
Click this link to get information shared by astronauts.
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