We’ve seen Android phones flying up to space before, but this time around we’ve got more video of the celestial journey. While we know Google wanted to test the sensors of the handsets they have put into space, you might we wondering why they would throw an Android figurine up there? Well, why not?
There are plenty of Google apps to explore streets, the planet, and even the stars, so it just makes sense that Google geeks would takes things to the next level? The video below captures the little robot attached to a weather balloon and a payload that has a Nexus S inside to track the little guy’s journey. Encased in small coolers, seven of these payloads were sent up in the air, and have captured some really great photographs along the way.
Each of these payloads were slightly different, some of which were recording video, and some had digital cameras taking pictures at various angles. Each one payload was running multiple Android applications as well. Maps 5 with offline viewing helped to track where each box was, and SkyMap gave hints as to what stars were around at the time. They even had Latitude running to report the location of each balloon when a data connection was available.
All in all, the balloons traveled as high as 107, 735 ft in the air, one of which was traveling at 139mph.
More data collected:
In tracking the sensors on each of the phones, we observed that the GPS in Nexus S could function up to altitudes of about 60,000 ft. and would actually start working again on the balloon’s descent. We also saw that Nexus S could withstand some pretty harsh temperatures (as low as -50?C). Some interesting data we collected:
Maximum Speed: 139 mph
Maximum Altitude: 107,375 ft (over 20 miles, over 30 km)
Maximum Ascent Rate: 5.44 m/s
Average Flight Duration: 2 hours, 40 minutes
Average Descent Time: 34 minutes
Glad someone beat me to this, as I was just seconds away from sending my G2 into space by attaching a balloon to it. Joking aside, the data collected from this experiment is quite interesting and we’re looking forward to see what big G comes up with in the future.
The video below speaks for itself; Android in space surfs the skies without even flinching. Brave robot.
[Via: GoogleMobileBlog]