Astronauts Can Now Use the Latest Smartphones in Space

Astronauts will now be able to bring modern smartphones on space missions, according to a tweet this week from NASA administrator Jared Isaacman. Isaacman said the policy will begin with SpaceX Crew-12 and Artemis II.

The SpaceX Crew-12 mission is scheduled to launch Feb. 11 and will carry four astronauts to the International Space Station. NASA’s Artemis II mission is expected to launch in March; it will send four astronauts on a 10-day flight that will circle the Moon and return to Earth.

“We are giving our crews the tools to capture special moments for their families and share inspiring images and video with the world,” Isaacman wrote. 

An Apple representative noted in an email to CNET that this was “the first time [the] iPhone has been fully qualified for extended use in orbit and beyond.”

“Until now, astronauts were largely limited to legacy cameras and older imaging equipment,” the spokesperson said.

NASA did not mention specific phone brands or models in its tweet.

Ars Technica reported that space missions currently use 2016 Nikon DSLR and GoPro cameras. 

Photography has played an important role in space missions since the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s. Apollo 11 astronauts, the first humans to step on the moon, captured iconic photographs of their famed July 1969 mission with specially modified Hasselblad cameras.