NASA has a thing for shooting things into space.
Comes with the territory of being NASA. And the latest thing they're
shooting into the great beyond is a satellite the size of a coffee mug. A
satellite like that probably has an extremely high-tech power source,
right? Wrong. It's powered by a smartphone.
The cube-like mini satellites are powered by Google's Nexus One smartphones.
It's a part of the PhoneSat Project, which aims to make extensive use of commercial-off-the-shelf components, such as the smart phone. They also plan to launch these tiny satellites fairly often, considering the ubiquity of power supply and relative low cost of each satellite. They cost $3,500.
"Out of the box, smartphones already offer a wealth of capabilities needed for satellite systems, including fast processors, versatile operating systems, multiple miniature sensors, high-resolution cameras, GPS receivers, and several radios," NASA said.
The smartphones will indeed act as the satellites on-board computer.
From Angry Birds to the final frontier. Wild.
Via Tom's Hardware
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