World's first smartphone-powered satellite blasts into space

The first smartphone-powered satellite has just blasted into space.

 

Dubbed STRaND-1, the nanosatellite will have an Android-powered Google Nexus One phone as its brain, and run four apps, according to a report on Popular Science.

 

STRaND-1 stands for "Surrey Training, Research, and Nanosatellite Demonstrator," and will use the phone's computing power to "collect scientific data, take pictures of Earth and perform some of its operations once it's in orbit."

 

"This is the first smartphone-powered satellite to go into space," PopSci.com said.

 

A separate report on Space.com said the phone's four apps will "take photos from the satellite, test the Earth's magnetic field, monitor the health of the satellite, and allow people around the world to upload videos that will play in space on the phone."

 

PopSci.com said that while smartphones' GPS units stop working at around 60,000 feet, STRaND-1 uses a small GPS unit designed for space.

 

Also, the phone can upload apps while it is in space.

 

STRaND-1 was one of seven satellites and rockets brought into space by the Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket that was launched in India.

 

Other satellites and rockets launched along with the STRaND-1 included:

 

 

"NEOSSat will probably reduce the impact hazard from unknown large NEO’s [near-Earth objects] by a few percent over its lifetime, but is not designed to discover small asteroids near the Earth that may be on collision courses," NEOSSat co-principal investigator Alan Hildebrand of the University of Calgary was quoted by Space.com as saying. — TJD, GMA News