NASA Tests iPads, Texting for 2025 Asteroid Mission
NASA is preparing its astronauts for an asteroid exploration mission by using iPads for training, Information Week reports.
David Carr writes the agency is using the iPads to simulate time-delayed radio communications, organize mission pans and deliver training.
Used for the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operation training at the Aquarius Reef Base at Key Largo, the iPads helped simulate harsh environments and zero gravity environments, according to Carr’s report.
Brandi Dean of NASA’s public affairs office told Carr iPads are scheduled to go the International Space Station on October.
The NEEMO crew also experimented with text messaging as a potential alternative to audio communications, used laptops for that part of the experiment because they could not find an iPad-based texting program compatible with their signal delay emulator.
NASA plans to launch the mission in 2025, according to the report.