Manned space travel faces the problem of time: when the journey is very long, such as to Mars (where it takes at least two years to reach), many things can happen along the way. And the astronauts on board are alone to respond to situations ranging from fixing fuses to tending to a colleague's broken tibia. Although they prepare conscientiously for this type of situation, at the moment we have not gone any further than the Moon, from where we can return in about 24 hours. But what will happen in the next decade, when we are scheduled to send the first humans to the Red Planet?
The main space agencies are already working on it. One of the solutions is that the crew can resort to consulting specialized people who are on Earth, although going one step further than by radio or even videoconference: by holoportation. This technology is capable of reproducing 3D holograms with movement and communication in real time, so we could send mechanics or doctors on the journey to Mars without their body being physically there. All of this, which sounds like science fiction, has just become a reality on the International Space Station (ISS): the first holotransported humans have 'arrived' at the space facilities.
Specifically, it occurred in October 2021, when NASA flight surgeon, Josef Schmid, along with the CEO of AEXA Aerospace, Fernando De La Pena Llaca, and their respective teams 'appeared' on the ISS, and were speaking with the French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who was spending a stay in space. To do this, he only used a Microsoft Hololens Kinect camera and a laptop with custom Aexa software. During the talk, Pesquet was able to see Schmid and De La Pena talking to him in the middle of the NASA module of the ISS, almost as if they were there.
"This is a completely new form of human communication over great distances," says Schmid in a statement. «Also, it is a new form of human exploration: our physical body is not there, but our human entity is. It doesn't matter that the space station is traveling at 17,500 mph and constantly moving in orbit 250 miles above the Earth, the astronaut can return three minutes or three weeks later and with the system working, we will be there in that place, live, in the space station.
NASA's plans are to go one step further and holotransport people who are in space on Earth, in a completely two-way holotransported communication. "We will use this for our medical conferences, psychiatric conferences, private family conferences and to bring personalities to the space station to visit the astronauts," says Schmid, who also indicates that this technology will be mixed with augmented reality, to enable a true 'teletutoring'.
“Imagine bringing the best instructor or designer of a particularly complex technology right next to you, wherever you are working on it. In addition, we will combine augmented reality with haptics (the possibility of also having touch remotely). They could both work together on the device, like two top surgeons working side by side during an operation,” says Schmid.
There are also direct applications here on Earth. Whether in other extreme environments such as Antarctica, offshore oil platforms, or military operations scenarios, this type of technology can help people in such situations communicate, bringing them together regardless of distance or environmental challenges.