NASA to send iPad into space around the Moon to test Alexa voice assistant

NASA is about to launch its new rocket called the Space Launch System.

The SLS is sending an unmanned spacecraft called Orion around the Moon on a long-duration mission called Artemis 1. The main goal of the mission is to demonstrate that the new rocket and spacecraft are capable of sending astronauts to the Moon on future missions in order to build the infrastructure to support future lunar and deep space exploration. .

This will use an iPad to test Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant in an Orion heat shield.

The experiment, called Callisto, will demonstrate how consumer technology can integrate with future spacecraft. Amazon Alexa and Cisco’s WebEx will be used to technically demonstrate how voice commands can improve the lives and work of astronauts in space.

Demo stand with iPad inside

The iPad will act as an astronaut talking to Alexa. This is how NASA describes the process:

Participants in the experiment will help with the demo by asking Alexa a question or doing a task in front of a console with a camera and microphone. Their images and voices will be broadcast from the flight control position in Orion, where the participants’ video will be displayed on the tablet and the audio will be played from the speaker, and then Alexa will capture the audio and respond.

On the morning of August 29, NASA intends to launch SLS and Orion on the Artemis 1 mission. [9to5]