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Microsoft's HoloLens to Go Into Orbit Atop SpaceX Dragon

Microsoft's virtual reality goggles will be on board SpaceX's next launch to the International Space Station. Pictured: NASA and Microsoft engineers test Project Sidekick on NASA’s Weightless Wonder C9 jet.
NASA

June 26, 2015, 5:01 PM

 -- When the SpaceX Dragon blasts off for its seventh resupply mission to the International Space Station this weekend, it will be carrying two pairs of Microsoft's HoloLens goggles.

The augmented-reality wearable device, which was first shown off in January at Microsoft's Windows 10 event, hasn't yet hit the consumer market. The astronauts at the International Space Station will be among the first to strap on the goggles and use Sidekick, a technology designed to help them work in space.

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"HoloLens and other virtual and mixed reality devices are cutting edge technologies that could help drive future exploration and provide new capabilities to the men and women conducting critical science on the International Space Station," Sam Scimemi, director of the ISS program at NASA, said in a statement.

The hope is the new technology could one day allow astronauts more autonomy as they travel into deep space and experience more communications delays with Earth.

The Sidekick devices have two modes of operation. The first allows astronauts to use Skype to connect with an expert on Earth to help coach them on a task while the second overlays a standalone set of procedures and illustrations.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 blasts off launchPad 40 in Cape Canaveral, Fla., early Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015 to deliver supplies to the International Space Station.

SpaceX Will Try Ambitious Rocket Landing Again

If all goes according to plan on Sunday, SpaceX will also try for a third time to land its Falcon 9 rocket on a floating barge.

A video from the most recent attempt in April shows the Falcon 9 rocket hitting its target when it returned to Earth but landing too hard for survival. The company said it has since made corrections to the valve that caused the rough landing.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said recycling rockets will "revolutionize access to space."

"If one can figure out how to effectively reuse rockets just like airplanes, the cost of access to space will be reduced by as much as a factor of a hundred," he said.