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NASA has spoken, and its words could have never been clearer; the legend of the Nexus One will live on. In space, nonetheless. NASA had chosen the Nexus One to be the first smartphone in space, using this smartphone as the brains of its new micro-satellites as part of the “PhoneSat” program. The aim of the program is to utilize powerful consumer products such as smartphones to bring innovations in the way that engineers develop and deploy satellites. The Nexus One was launched into space on February 25th, equipped with the 360 App which will allow users on terra firma to take snapshots via the Nexus One’s camera and share them on Facebook and Twitter.
“PhoneSat demonstrates a philosophy of taking a creative idea, then building and testing that inspiration in a very rapid way…as opposed to long planning processes typical of larger spacecraft programs,” said Andrew Petro, NASA program executive for Small Spacecraft Technology within the Space Technology Program.
Surrey Satellite Technology has taken on the task of adapting their micro-satellites to utilize the Nexus One as the brain of their operations. The company started working on this project a few years ago, after NASA announced their “PhoneSat” program. The Nexus One had to pass a multitude of tests to prove it was space-worthy, including temperature testing to ensure that the unit would not melt or flare up in the extremes of space. After extensive testing, engineers were able to tweak their hardware to work with the Nexus One, and now it is being utilized.
For now, it seems that the micro-satellite is only being utilized to take pictures, but with the multitude of features on the Nexus One, we will surly see new and innovative uses for these micro-satellites. And as the program progresses, we will most likely see satellites equipped with more modern smartphones.
[Via: HTC Blog]
About The Author
Ian Kersey
Raised in rural Northern California, Ian spent his early years embroiled in video games, comic books, and making spaceships out of Legos. He escaped to San Francisco in the early 2000's, mastering the art of coffee making to pay his bills. Ian then attended Mosaic Art school in Italy, returning to the bay area afterwards, and worked on a few art projects of his own. Harnessing his long-dorment nerd powers, Ian now spends his days trolling the interwebz to bring you the most awesome mobile news, ever.
