Smartphones have become a basic necessity in our lives, as we take them with us wherever we go.
However, there is one place where people are not allowed to take their phones - space.
NASA has a strict guideline that prohibits astronauts from taking their smartphones into orbit.
Fortunately, this will soon change in the upcoming Crew-12 and Artemis II missions.
For reference, Crew-12, which is scheduled for February 11, is a NASA-SpaceX mission that will send four astronauts to the International Space Station.
The Artemis II mission, on the other hand, is scheduled for March.
It is a 10-day mission in which four astronauts will travel on a free-return trajectory around the Moon and back to Earth.
According to NASA chief Jared Isaacmann, the decision to restrict devices like smartphones made sense years ago, but not now.
As it turns out, electronic devices like smartphones are designed primarily for Earth's environment, and exposing them to space, where temperatures fluctuate from extreme highs to lows, can negatively affect them.
This is why such restrictions have been in place until now.
Furthermore, NASA's approval process to make any equipment ready for space is very slow and can sometimes take years.
The devices currently in use are a prime example of how slow the entire approval system is.
Prior to this announcement, the Artemis II mission crew was said to be carrying a 2016 Nikon DSLR camera along with a GoPro.
Interestingly, this wouldn't be the first time astronauts carried a personal smartphone with them on a space mission.
Two iPhone 4s also went into orbit with the crew during a space shuttle mission in 2011.
However, there is no information whether these phones were used to take photos and videos or were simply placed on the ship.
Several other Apple devices, such as the Macintosh Portable, iPods, AirPods Pro, and Apple Watch, have also been sent into space in the past.
Carrying modern smartphones like the iPhone 17 or Pixel 10, for example, will allow teams on future space missions to capture stunning images instantly. /Telegraph/
