NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and the rest of the crew of the International Space Station (ISS) are testing out the two new pairs of Microsoft HoloLens that were delivered to the orbital facility in December.

The augmented reality visors are part of a collaborative project between the American space agency and the Windows maker known as Sidekick.

NASA said that the HoloLens as well as other devices for virtual and mixed reality technology provide researchers with new capabilities for research and exploration on the ISS. The devices could help empower future explorers by giving them greater autonomy during their journey in space.

Sidekick

According to Microsoft, the Sidekick project operates using two modes: Remote Expert Mode and Procedure Mode.

Remote Expert Mode features the use of the online call service Skype to connect ground operators to the crew of the ISS.

Using the HoloLens, operators on Earth can see what the astronauts see on the orbital facility, which would allow them to guide the crew through tasks in real-time. Before astronauts had to rely on voice or written instructions in order to carry out complicated repairs or experiments.

Procedure Mode, on the other hand, it is also designed to help the ISS crew during their trainings by providing them environments filled with animated holographic illustrations that they can interact with.

The developers of the technology believe that this function would help reduce the length of training future astronauts on the ISS would need to go through. It could also provide researchers with a key resource for upcoming deep space missions, where they expect operations would be complicated by delays in communications.

Before the two pairs of HoloLens were brought to space, NASA first tested them out for a while at the underwater laboratory Aquarius in Florida. This was done as part of the government's NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) project.

The augmented reality visors are now being used by members of the space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) team. They are using holograms of images taken by the Mars Rover to explore the Red Planet.

"We couldn't be more thrilled about the work we are doing with NASA," Alex Kipman, a technical fellow for Microsoft, wrote in a post on the company's blog.

"I can't wait to see more from the crew at the International Space Station!"