Update: This article has been updated to reflect the new Crew-12 launch window.
Most of us probably can't imagine leaving our phones behind when we so much as leave a room, but astronauts have long had to do without their iPhones and Androids for months at a time.
Not anymore.
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NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced that astronauts will now be permitted to take the "latest smartphones" with them when they launch to space.
Because the new policy is already in effect, astronauts selected for a NASA mission with SpaceX known as Crew-12 will become the first who can take their iPhones and other modern technology to orbit. The change also comes ahead of the launch in March of Artemis 2, which will send four astronauts on a 10-day trip around the moon.
"We are giving our crews the tools to capture special moments for their families and share inspiring images and video with the world," Isaacman said in post Feb. 4 on the social media site X.
Here's everything to know about the change ahead of the Crew-12 launch date.
NASA to allow astronauts to take smartphones to space
NASA astronauts with an interest in astral photography have long been able to capture and share stunning cosmic vistas on social media while in orbit. But, as Isaacman hinted in his social media post, the new guidelines from NASA probably will make it easier for astronauts to document their celestial surroundings – an ability that should prove useful during scientific experiments.
The USA TODAY Network left a message Feb. 9 with NASA's media office seeking more information about how smartphones could be used in space.
The change comes after NASA officials "challenged long-standing processes" that governed the type of hardware and technology considered safe for space travel, Isaacman said.
"This is a small step in the right direction," Isaacman said.
SpaceX Crew-12 mission to be first to allow iPhones, Androids
The policy change means that astronauts selected for Crew-12 will be the first who are permitted to take the latest iPhones and Android smartphones to space. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, as well as the European Space Agency's Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, are preparing for a nine-month mission at the International Space Station.
Under the updated guidelines, four astronauts on NASA's Artemis 2 mission around the moon will also be able to take smartphones with them when they become the first humans to see parts of the far side of the moon that not even Apollo astronauts witnessed. Slated for no earlier than March 6, Artemis 2 is the first U.S. crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years and will set the stage for a return to the surface of the moon.
Before the new policy, the newest camera approved to fly on the historic Artemis 2 mission was a 2016 Nikon DSLR, Ars Technica reported.
When is the Crew-12 launch date?
The Crew-12 mission was bumped up a few days so the astronauts can get to an understaffed space station after the mission's Crew-11 predecessors were medically evacuated in mid-January. After a few delays, NASA is now working toward a launch at 5:15 a.m. ET Friday, Feb. 13, from Launch Pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will provide the initial burst to propel a Dragon capsule toward the ISS with the crew aboard.
What is the NASA, SpaceX Crew-12 mission?
As the name suggests, Crew-12 will be NASA and SpaceX's 12th human science expedition to the space station.
The series of missions is contracted under NASA's commercial crew program. The program allows the agency to pay SpaceX to launch and transport astronauts and cargo to orbit aboard the company's own vehicles, freeing up NASA to focus on its Artemis lunar program and other spaceflight missions, including future crewed voyages to Mars.
In addition to the SpaceX Dragon Crew capsule, NASA hopes to certify Boeing's Starliner capsule to add a second operational vehicle for missions to the ISS before the station is retired by 2030.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Crew-12 astronauts will be 1st allowed to take smartphones to space
