Why NASA is sending an iPad in space

NASA is sending an iPad on the Artemis 1 Moon mission aboard the uncrewed Orion spacecraft, as per a report by 9To5Mac. The gadget’s job? To assist in testing Amazon’s voice assistant Alexa and Cisco’s video conferencing software Webex on Orion. Alexa and Webex will be a part of Orion’s payload, Callisto. NASA is targeting the launch for August 29.
“The industry-funded payload will be located on Orion’s center console and includes a tablet that will test Webex by Cisco video conferencing software to transmit video and audio from the Mission Control Center at Johnson, and custom-built hardware and software by Lockheed Martin and Amazon that will test Alexa, Amazon’s voice-based virtual assistant, to respond to the transmitted audio. […]
Traveling in deep space, it would take too long for Alexa on Orion to use the cloud back on Earth, so Callisto will use NASA’s Deep Space Network and a local database aboard the spacecraft to communicate with Alexa and respond.”, said NASA in a blogpost.
This tablet is going to be the iPad, the report confirms and would be the “first iPad to fly on a NASA moon mission ever”. It will use WebEx and act as an astronaut speaking to Alexa, since the Orion mission is an uncrewed one.
A report by CNET in January did mention NASA’s plans to test Alexa and Webex in space. The idea is to test the software solutions with a virtual crew at the Johnson Space Center, Houston. The virtual crew on Earth will try to communicate with and issue commands to the AI assistant via a video on iPad with the audio playing on speakers. The commands will be sent via NASA’s Deep Space Network, which comprises giant radio antennas used for communication during space missions. Webex will help in video conferencing with ground control, other crewmates and people back on Earth.