Nasa allows astronauts to use iPhones in space to capture ‘special moments’
The move is part of Nasa chief Jared Isaacman’s plan to harness private sector firms in a bid to accelerate the agency’s work
Nasa astronauts venturing deeper in space than any human has travelled will be able to document and share images from the landmark moon mission next month using Nasa-provided Apple iPhones.
Crews undertaking a lunar fly-by as part of the Artemis programme, and a preceding International Space Station mission in February, will fly with “the latest smartphones”, Nasa Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a social media post.
“We are giving our crews the tools to capture special moments for their families and share inspiring images and video with the world,” said Isaacman, the former chief executive of a mobile payments company.
The smartphones provided for the coming flights are iPhones, but the agency said other devices may be certified in the future. Before this, no phones have ever been licensed for space flight aboard a Nasa spacecraft.
“This is a first for us, although it has been done safely aboard commercial space flights for around a decade now,” Nasa spokesperson Bethany Stevens said on Thursday.
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Isaacman brought a smartphone aboard his commercial space flight in 2024.