Since last November 16, an iPad has been traveling through space, one of the many artificial crew members of the Orion spacecraft, of the Artemis 1 program. Now, this same iPad is orbiting the Moon. Is it the first device of this style to leave planet Earth? Probably not, although we don’t know. What we are sure of is that, from this moment on, you can send any message you want to an alien station.
During the time that the Orion spacecraft of the Artemis 1 program is orbiting the Moon, a camera will be recording the messages you send. Therefore, you can send a greeting to all earthlings, or to the future Lunarians who will populate the Moon by 2030, as predicted by NASA.
But beware, don’t think you can get away with sending inappropriate messages. Each of those who make it to the iPad screen on the Orion spacecraft are chosen by Lockheed-Martin. The company, which is in charge of directing the experiment, has already made it clear that there will be no site for messages with content “derogatory, defamatory, racist, sexist or inappropriate“.
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to promote your brand on the moon either through the Orion spacecraft. Martin also ensures that messages may not contain “copyrighted products or endorse people, products, brands, etc.”
But why is there an iPad on the Orion spacecraft?
Although sending messages to the Moon for the first time in history may seem like a very romantic idea, the real utility has nothing to do with it. In fact, it is part of Callisto, a demonstration of space technology that wants to ensure the comfort of the crew while orbiting the Earth’s satellite.
The purpose of Callisto is to demonstrate the usefulness of technological interfaces for humans in space, starting with the Orion spacecraft. Thus, she also proves the benefit of virtual assistants in the crew’s daily missions. For now, the iPad is loaded with Amazon’s Alexa, replacing Siri in their support tasks.
How can these types of software and technologies make life easier for astronauts in space? It is yet to be proven. The truth is everything indicates that it will be worthy of a science fiction work where the ship is fully controlled by a virtual assistant. Of course, we are still far from this, but we have to start with something.
Also, in the meantime too Webex is being testedCisco’s interface for audio and video calls from the Orion spacecraft.
How to send your message to Artemis 1
You can be part of the Artemis 1 mission just by contributing a grain of sand. To do this, send a message to Callisto. How can you do it? The process is as simple as filling out a small form. Subsequently, your message will travel through deep space to get to the Callisto tech demo, on the Orion ship.
Remember that it is not certain that your message will be selected to be displayed on the Orion ship. However, if you do succeed, it will remain for posterity as part of the historic mission Artemis 1, the pillar for interplanetary conquest by the human species.