A handout picture made available by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shows the Orion spacecraft for NASA's Artemis I mission, fully assembled with its launch abort system, being lifted above the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, 20 October 2021 (issued 23 October 2021). The stacking of Orion on top of the SLS completes assembly for the Artemis I flight test. Teams will begin conducting a series of verification tests ahead of rolling out to Launch Complex 39B for the Wet Dress Rehearsal. Artemis I will be an uncrewed test flight of the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under Artemis, NASA aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon and establish sustainable lunar exploration. EPA / NASA / FRANK MICHAUX HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY / NO SALES
A handout picture made available by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shows the Orion spacecraft for NASA's Artemis I mission, fully assembled with its launch abort system, being lifted above the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, 20 October 2021 (issued 23 October 2021). The stacking of Orion on top of the SLS completes assembly for the Artemis I flight test. Teams will begin conducting a series of verification tests ahead of rolling out to Launch Complex 39B for the Wet Dress Rehearsal. Artemis I will be an uncrewed test flight of the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under Artemis, NASA aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon and establish sustainable lunar exploration. EPA / NASA / FRANK MICHAUX HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY / NO SALES
A handout picture made available by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shows the Orion spacecraft for NASA's Artemis I mission, fully assembled with its launch abort system, being lifted above the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, 20 October 2021 (issued 23 October 2021). The stacking of Orion on top of the SLS completes assembly for the Artemis I flight test. Teams will begin conducting a series of verification tests ahead of rolling out to Launch Complex 39B for the Wet Dress Rehearsal. Artemis I will be an uncrewed test flight of the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under Artemis, NASA aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon and establish sustainable lunar exploration. EPA / NASA / FRANK MICHAUX HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY / NO SALES
A handout picture made available by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shows the Orion spacecraft for NASA's Artemis I mission, fully assembled with its launch abort system, bein

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Technology

Amazon's Alexa to blast into space on Nasa mission

Voice assistant to embark on unmanned mission on Orion spacecraft

Kyle Fitzgerald
Kyle Fitzgerald

January 06, 2022

  • English
  • Arabic

Amazon's Alexa will take one small step for voice assistants and one giant leap for technology when it blasts into space on Nasa's Orion spacecraft as part of the programme's Artemis I lunar missions.

Amazon has collaborated with Lockheed Martin and Cisco engineers to incorporate the voice assistant into Callisto, a touchscreen platform that aims to demonstrate technological possibilities for future missions, a press release said.

Calliso will also feature a customised version of Cisco's teleconference platform WebEx, which may allow future astronauts to better connect with people back on Earth.

“The Star Trek computer was part of our original inspiration for Alexa, so it’s exciting and humbling to see our vision for ambient intelligence come to life on board Orion,” said Aaron Rubenson, vice president of Alexa Everywhere at Amazon.

Since the coming mission will be unmanned, Lockheed Martin — the aerospace company building the spacecraft — will build a virtual crew at Nasa's space centre in Houston, Texas, to simulate interactions between Alexa and future astronauts, with “crew members” asking questions or giving commands to the voice assistant.

For this mission, Alexa will have control over the lights in the cockpit, but there are hopes that it could do much more on later flights.

As missions grow longer and astronauts venture farther from home, Alexa could also help alleviate feelings of loneliness.

The technology, Nasa claims, could help astronauts work more independently as they embark on different missions, such as a flight to Mars.

Nasa's Orion spacecraft is scheduled to launch as soon as March of this year.

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  • For this mission, Alexa will have control over the lights in the cockpit, but there are hopes that it could do much more on later flights. Nasa via EPA
    For this mission, Alexa will have control over the lights in the cockpit, but there are hopes that it could do much more on later flights. Nasa via EPA
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Updated: January 06, 2022, 6:50 PM
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