Android In Space: STRaND-1 Satellite To Activate Nexus One 103
An anonymous reader writes "In as little as a few days, the British-made Surrey Training, Research, and Nanosatellite Demonstrator (STRaND-1) satellite will begin transitioning its key systems over to a completely stock Android Nexus One smartphone that's been bolted to the bottom of it. The mission is designed to test the endurance of off-the-shelf consumer hardware, and to validate Android as a viable platform for controlling low-cost spacecraft. STRaND-1 managed to beat NASA's own 'PhoneSat' mission to the punch, which will see a Nexus One and Nexus S launched into space aboard the April test flight of the Orbital Sciences Antares commercial launch vehicle, the prime competitor to SpaceX's Falcon 9."
Sort of pointless (Score:3, Interesting)
Even in a "low-cost spacecraft" the cost of a consumer OS would be a trivial part of the budget - the difference between Android costing nothing versus the cost of stock Windows, iOS/OS X or Blackberry isn't particularly meaningful.
Off-the-shelf hardware, though - that would be a bigger deal. It's doomed to failure, but if somehow it could work that would be huge.
I love this part especially: (Score:5, Interesting)
"The onboard computer will monitor the temperature of the phone battery. If it sees it is getting too cold, it will trigger a processor intensive program to run on the mobile phone, which will warm it up."
Next time I'm out on a winter day, I'll just turn on my Live Wallpaper with Conway's Life running on an infinite grid. Instant pocket hard-warmer!