‘Alexa, launch spaceship please’

We always said Alexa was going to take over the world, and we weren’t far wrong! This year, we get to witness Alexa in space.

Alexa, beam me up!

The original inspiration for Alexa was the Star Trek computer, so we bet Amazon are pretty pleased with themselves now they’re one step closer to making it a reality. Alexa’s first trip – the moon.

Amazon have been working alongside Cisco and Lockheed Martin to incorporate Alexa into NASA’s Artemis 1 mission, the first of several missions intended to land the first woman and person of colour on the moon. Expected to launch this Spring, Alexa’s mission (should she choose to accept it) is to join Callisto, a technology demonstration embedded into NASA’s Orion spacecraft.

The planned route for the first Artemis 1 mission.

How helpful is Alexa in space?

This first mission isn’t crewed. Despite this, the real intention of this one is to help NASA test the technology, along with many other innovative, new technologies, for future trips to space. For three years, Amazon and their team have been researching and preparing features that an astronaut might need. Firstly, access to mission telemetry. To you an me, that’s the ability to answer questions like ‘Alexa, what’s the temperature in the cabin?’ or ‘Alexa, how fast is Orion travelling?’ Secondly, the ability to control connected devices on board the spaceship, such as in-cabin. Lastly, ensuring Alexa can retrieve information from back on Earth, primarily for astronauts to stay connected to home.

Alongside these nuggets, Alexa will be equipped with technology that allows her to function in areas with lower connectivity. Maybe send some of that this way…

Amazon says they ‘envision a future where astronauts can turn to an onboard AI for information, assistance and companionship’. It’s straight out of a movie!

One small step for Alexa, one giant leap for AI kind.

Alexa, take me to the moon

As the launch creeps closer, Amazon will be adding interactive experiences to their Alexa-enabled devices. This will allow users to follow along with the Artemis 1 mission and enjoy in-depth space exploration like never before.

It’s quite exciting really that we’re one step closer to developing a new era of space exploration. Let’s just hope it doesn’t turn out like Alien…

For more updates from the world of Amazon, head to our blog.