After some glitches, the first of the Artemis missions that will take humanity back to the Moon many years later finally started recently. As part of the Artemis I mission, NASA sent the Orion spacecraft, which will carry astronauts in the future, to our satellite. The vehicle, which reached the Moon, was able to perform its orbital flight in the past few days.
The purpose of the Artemis I mission, which marks the first steps in our plans to colonize the Moon and reach other planets, is mainly to test the functionality of the SLS rocket and Orion before sending humans. However, this does not mean that other things are not included in the sent vehicle. One of them is an iPad, which also allows us to send messages into space.
Why is an iPad being sent into space?
First of all, let’s talk briefly about the things that were sent to space with the mission. NASA has sent several CubeSats (small nano-satellites used for space exploration) into space with different missions. Some of these were sent to study the Moon, and some to study asteroids near us. In addition to these small satellites, on the iPad we mentioned, Artemis 1 made its way to the Moon with its mission.
Floating in space, the iPad is inside the Orion capsule that will carry the crew. Developed in collaboration with Lockhead Martin and Amazon and called Callisto, this project aims to show how consumer technology can be integrated into spacecraft in the future. We can say that the goal of Callisto is to test the human-machine interface in space. Contrary to expectations, this hardware consisting of iPad does not use Apple’s Siri software, but instead uses Alexa, one of the partners, Amazon’s artificial intelligence supported voice assistant.
Let’s unpack Callisto’s purpose a little more. The goal here is to see how a voice assistant like Alexa can make astronauts’ jobs easier and space travel more efficient in the future. Let’s also mention that a partnership was established with the technology company Cisco for the project, and the Webex service of this company was also tested. In this partnership, the aim is to enable video and audio conversations from space.
In addition to these, experts have added a very remarkable feature to this iPad to enable people on Earth to reach space as well, allowing us all to send messages to the depths of space. According to the statements, the messages coming to the iPad inside the capsule will be captured by a camera and shared on the mission watched by the whole world via the entire Callisto screen. So how is this message sent to Orion traveling on the Moon? Let’s see.
How to send a message to Orion?
The way to send a message to the iPad inside Orion is quite easy. First of all, you need to reach the site of Lockheed Martin, which conducted the experiment, by clicking the link here. Then you need to go to the bottom of the page and come to the ‘Communicate with Callisto’ section, which means ‘Contact Callisto’. Then you need to write your message, which should be a maximum of 120 characters, and add your name and e-mail address at the bottom. It is also possible to send the message via the Orion app, which can be downloaded from the App Store and Play Store.
We should add that not every message can be displayed. Lockheed Martin says messages that contain derogatory, racist, sexist and other inappropriate things will be automatically blocked. Also, it includes any copyrighted material, a person, product, brand, etc. It is stated that messages supporting things will also be rejected. If your message passes all requirements and is selected by the authorities, it will be displayed on the Orion spacecraft on the historic Artemis 1 mission.
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