'Pokemon Go' Update: No Pokemons For Astronauts In The ISS

Although the world has been captivated by the new smartphone game, Pokémon Go, there will be at least 6 people who won't be getting the chance to try the game. NASA confirmed that no one can play Pokémon Go on board the International Space Station. The space agency also confirmed that nobody will have access to the app while in space.

According to NASA, the six crew members living and working on the International Space Station will not have any access of the smartphone app, involving the hunting for unique Pokémon by roaming around, while onboard the space station. "Unfortunately, it is not possible for the astronauts to play. While there is a small number of smartphones available on the space station, the crew uses them for science activities, but not for personal use. The smartphones and other mobile devices on station (tablets) also do not have internet connectivity," NASA told The Verge.

Unfortunately, no. There are smartphones, but the crew only uses them for @ISS_Research and they don't have internet https://t.co/aBUx2c69mj

— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) July 11, 2016

The 3 new ISS crew members, NASA's Kate Rubins, cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin and Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi boarded the space station on Saturday a few days after the launch of the game. It was also reported that even if ISS crew members can use their smartphone in space, there would still be another factor that will stop them from playing the game.

Pokémon GO players are made to use GOS signal to track where they are on a map in the game. A bad news for astronauts and cosmonauts on board since the Space Station doesn't use the same tracking system as the ones used on Earth.

"And as far as location services, the astronauts use ISS internal GPS data and custom applications to determine their location and position," NASA spokesman Dan Huot told Mashable via email. "Location based services we use here on Earth are not utilized."

Popsci.com said that if any of the current ISS flight crew is excited to play the newest game, they'll have to wait for some time before they can get a hand on it. Nobody is set to come home until September, and by that time, those from the ISS will have to play catch up since all of the gyms will already be defended.