Apple iPhone 4 and a few Samsung Nexus S go aboard space shuttle Atlantis.
Smartphones have now taken their battle into space, or so it seems. NASA's space shuttle Atlantis lifted off on Friday, with two iPhone 4's and a few Samsung Nexus S with the aim of assisting astronauts in carrying out a few experiments.A special app called SpaceLab for iOS is installed on the iPhones. This app will use the special features of the iPhone 4 such as the accelerometer, camera, e gyro, and chip, to help astronauts conduct four experiments namely: Limb Tracker, Sensor Cal, State Acq, and LFI. Apple has made the app available on its iTunes Store for anyone to try and get a sense of what the astronauts will be doing. However, this app will compensate for the Earth's gravity to simulate the weightless environment in space.
The Samsung Nexus S phones will be doing something even more important because they will be used to boost the computing power of several experimental remote-controlled robots called SPHERES (Synchronised Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites). SPHERES are bowling-ball sized spherical satellites used inside the space station to test a set of well-defined instructions for spacecraft performing autonomous rendezvous and docking manoeuvres. Each of these is self-contained with power, propulsion, computers, and navigation equipment. These will perform routine mundane tasks such as inventory handling, thus allowing astronauts to concentrate on more important things.
Lead Engineer of NASA's Intelligent Robotics Group, D. W. Wheeler said, "By connecting a smartphone, we can immediately make SPHERES more intelligent. With a smartphone, the SPHERES will have a built-in camera to take pictures and video, sensors to help conduct inspections, a powerful computing unit to make calculations, and a Wi-Fi connection that we will use to transfer data in real-time to the space station and mission control". The SPHERES would therefore act as remotely operated robots via the smartphones.
