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Nasa: Hologram doctors beamed live to International Space Station to visit astronauts

Dr Josef SchmidImage source, ESA/Thomas Pesquet
Image caption,

Nasa flight surgeon Dr Josef Schmid greets the astronauts on the ISS

It might sound like science fiction, but Nasa have, for the first time ever, beamed up a live hologram of a doctor and his team to space to visit astronauts.

It was made possible by technology called 'holoportation' which allows high-quality 3D models of people to be recreated and transmitted live to anywhere.

Dr Josef Schmid, who works for Nasa, found himself beamed to the middle of the International Space Station (ISS), where he was able to enjoy a conversation with the astronauts.

He even shared a handshake with French astronaut Thomas Pesquet!

Image source, ESA/Thomas Pesquet
Image caption,

Dr Shmid and his team were beamed up live into space!

Scientists are excited by this technology as it opens up a brand new way of human exploration.

Dr Schmid said, "It doesn't matter that the space station is traveling 17,500mph and in constant motion in orbit 250 miles above Earth."

"The astronaut can come back three minutes or three weeks later and with the system running, we will be there in that spot, live on the space station," he added.

Did you know?

In the space of just 24 hours, the ISS makes 16 orbits of Earth, travelling through 16 sunrises and sunsets!

Nasa is hoping to use this new technology more often in the future.

The plan is to next use this for two-way communication, so that people on Earth can be beamed up to space whilst at the same time astronauts are holoported back on earth.

This technology could also be used here on Earth to bring people together regardless of their distance, for example in extreme environments such as Antarctica or oil rigs in the middle of the sea.

What do you think of the hologram? If you could chose to appear anywhere as a hologram, where would you like to be beamed to? Let us know in the comments below!