Amazon Alexa is going to space, here’s how – Times of India

Yes, Amazon’s AI voice assistant is taking a trip to space, on board the NASA Orion rocket. The launch is reportedly scheduled for later this year as part of the crewless Artemis I lunar mission. According to a report in CNET, accompanying Alexa will be Webex, Cisco’s video conferencing software. Alexa and Webex will be a part of Orion’s payload, Callisto.
The idea is to test the software solutions with a virtual crew at the Johnson Space Center, Houston. The virtual crew will try to communicate with and issue commands to the AI assistant. The commands will be sent via NASA’s Deep Space Network, which comprises giant radio antennas used for communication during space missions. Webex is being considered for video conferencing with ground control, other crewmates and people back on Earth.
“The Star Trek computer was part of the original vision for Alexa,” the report quotes Aaron Rubenson, vice president of Amazon Alexa. “To build that form of ambient intelligence that’s helpful when you need it, then fades away. So it just is a perfect fit with some of the ways we’ve thought about potentially extending this technology.”
Alexa would have control over the lights in the cockpit and can control those without the need for a command into the flight control system. But NASA, Amazon and Lockheed Martin, the company that built the Orion rocket are working on how best to implement Alexa and Webex.
“We’re thinking about situations when people are buckled into a chair, have gloves on or are otherwise engaged in some task but still want access to information or to be able to control some sort of device with their voice,” the report quotes Rubenson.
In future, Amazon’s voice assistant may also help alleviate the psychological and isolation-related issues astronauts could have in space.