Tags:Alexa, Artemis I, Callisto, COTS, Crew Displays, Deep Space, Orion and Webex
Abstract:
The Callisto Technology Demonstration Payload was installed inside the cabin of the Artemis I Orion spacecraft to enjoy a perfect string of 21 successful operational sessions throughout the spectacular 25.5 day lunar mission. A joint partnership between Lockheed Martin, Amazon Alexa, and Webex by Cisco, this demonstration explored multiple unique crew interfaces that may potentially improve a crew’s operational efficiency and quality of life aboard future exploration missions. Augmented by payload-provided cabin lights, cameras, and an intercom, Callisto’s primary intent was realized by implementing crew displays and Cisco’s Webex collaboration technology on an iPad, as well as a ‘local voice control’ version of Amazon’s Alexa on a COTS single-board computer. Via the first-ever integration between a secondary payload and Orion’s flight software, Callisto made available Orion’s extensive telemetry to both the crew displays and Alexa. With no crew aboard Artemis I to test Callisto, the system was instead evaluated by “virtual crew members” (VCM) invited to the payload operations suite in the Johnson Space Center Mission Control Center, thus meeting Callisto’s secondary objective to engage the public throughout the mission.
Having operated flawlessly in every engineering respect, and having been met with universal enthusiasm by every VCM, Callisto not only met both of its main objectives, but lent further weight to our ever-growing appreciation for just how far it may be possible to push smartly implemented COTS hardware into the challenging realm of space. This presentation provides an overview of Callisto's development as a platform at least partially intended to further explore such COTS possibilities in space, and its subsequent operational success during its trip around the moon.
The Callisto Technology Demonstration: COTS Crew Interfaces Aboard Artemis I