NASA Astronauts Can Now Bring Smartphones to Space

Get ready for some truly out-of-this-world selfies. In a significant policy shift, NASA will now permit its astronauts to bring personal smartphones into space, starting with the upcoming Crew-12 and Artemis II missions. This groundbreaking decision marks the first time agency crew members will have their own devices to capture moments and document their journeys, promising an unprecedented look at life beyond Earth.

The Crew-12 mission is slated to depart for the International Space Station (ISS) next week. Meanwhile, the highly anticipated Artemis II mission—which will carry humans around the Moon for the first time since the 1960s—has been rescheduled for March. Both missions will now feature astronauts equipped with the latest iPhone and Android devices, allowing for more spontaneous image and video capture.

NASA administrator Jared Isaacman emphasized the importance of this change, stating on X:

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

This shift is expected to make these upcoming space journeys some of NASA’s most thoroughly documented to date.

The prospect of astronauts becoming zero-gravity TikTok stars or capturing ultra-wide-angle selfies from within a spacecraft is now a tangible reality. Beyond the public engagement aspect, the swift approval of this rule change by NASA’s bureaucracy is also noteworthy.

Isaacman further noted the operational significance:

“Just as important, we challenged long-standing processes and qualified modern hardware for spaceflight on an expedited timeline. That operational urgency will serve NASA well as we pursue the highest-value science and research in orbit and on the lunar surface.”

Historically, approving new technology for spaceflight is a rigorous process, given the catastrophic risks associated with any malfunction. Until now, the primary cameras cleared for these missions were often decade-old Nikon DSLRs and GoPros, as reported by Ars Technica. While these are capable devices, smartphones offer a level of spontaneity and accessibility that traditional cameras often lack.

It's worth noting that this isn't the first instance of smartphones venturing into space. SpaceX previously permitted the use of smartphones on its private astronaut missions, such as Inspiration4, demonstrating their viability in the space environment.