NASA clears the iPhone to go to space
Apple's iPhone may be one of the most popular phones on Earth, but it's about to start conquering space as well.
According to NASA administrator Jared Isaacman, NASA astronauts are now cleared to take smartphones into space, starting with the SpaceX Crew-12 and Artemis II missions.
"We are giving our crews the tools to capture special moments for their families and share inspiring images and video with the world," he wrote in a tweet.
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The SpaceX Crew-12 is a planned mission to send up to four astronauts to the International Space Station aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft. The mission is scheduled to launch sometime post-Feb. 11, 2026. The Artemis II is a far more exciting mission as it's a plan to send a crew of astronauts to orbit the moon aboard the Orion spacecraft. That mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than March 6, 2026.
While Isaacman didn't mention specific models, an Apple spokesperson confirmed to Mashable that the iPhone is one of the phones that has been given the NASA green light.
The details on which iPhone models, exactly, will be going into space were not disclosed.
Until now, astronauts had to take those pretty orbital photos with legacy cameras. Now, they'll be able to snap them much easier, which should mean we'll be seeing a lot more beautiful space photography soon.
Stan is a Senior Editor at Mashable, where he has worked since 2007. He's got more battery-powered gadgets and band t-shirts than you. He writes about the next groundbreaking thing. Typically, this is a phone, a coin, or a car. His ultimate goal is to know something about everything.
