Space - Android Community

NASA put three Android-powered PhoneSats into orbit last weekend

By Shane McGlaun
on 25 Apr, 2013

It's been a while since we talked about NASA and its plans to put three Android smartphones into orbit. NASA first announced its plans for the PhoneSats in the summer of 2012. The smartphones at the heart of the small and inexpensive satellites are the HTC Nexus One. If you're wondering why NASA chose such old smartphones to use in the project, it has been in the works since those devices were new.

HTC and NASA confirm Nexus One is headed to space in 2013

By Cory Gunther
on 10 Oct, 2012

HTC and NASA have teamed up to launch a few of their powerful smartphones into the outer depths of space. This certainly isn't the first time we've talked about this. Back in 2010 NASA sent the Nexus One to the outer edges of the atmosphere and recorded it all, and we've even seen the Nexus S do similar tasks. Today however HTC is confirming a few details on their aging smartphone making its way to space.

NASA PhoneSat sending Nexus One, Nexus S into space

By Eric Abent
on 24 Aug, 2012

It's been a big summer for NASA. A few weeks back, it landed the Curiosity rover on the surface Mars, and it announced earlier this week that we'll be going back to Mars in 2016 - this time to find out how the Red Planet evolved. But NASA's upcoming plans don't all have something to do with Mars as some of them, like PhoneSat, will be playing out much closer to home.

Small British nano satellites use Kinect and Google Nexus smartphone

By Shane McGlaun
on 29 May, 2012

A British satellite company called Surrey Satellite Technology is working on a nano satellite that uses off-the-shelf consumer technology to save money. Traditional satellites can cost millions of pounds apiece to build whereas Surrey says that its nano satellites can be built for hundreds of thousands of pounds each. That is a massive savings and to reach that low-cost not only of the satellites small, but they use your average consumer technology.

Astdroid project helps your phone navigate in low Earth orbit [UPDATE]

By Michael Crider
on 30 Jan, 2012

We've seen Android slip the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God (or at least slip past the upper sections of the atmosphere) before, but at least one developer wants to make it an everyday occurrence. Various weather balloon and rocket delivery systems from students and hobbyists have given us dirst-cheap photos and videos of the Earth in the last few years (including this nifty Lego-themed project from Canada) and Denver-based developer Danny Pier thinks the whole process can be streamlined with an Android phone. To that end, he's developing an app that will record pictures and video as well as GPS information in an all-in-one package.

Google Nexus S in Space Round 2 [Video]

By Cory Gunther
on 1 Sep, 2011

Lets talk about a different Samsung device for a minute, this is the Google Samsung Nexus S and its made the long trek to space. Back in July we told you about the Nexus S joining the space shuttle Atlantis for its last trip to space. Today the team at Google has updated us with an awesome video clip showing some of the amazing work NASA and the Nexus S are doing so check it out after the break.

Team Preparing Android Phone to Launch in Space

By Dylan Bailey
on 24 Jan, 2011

Researchers at Surrey Satellite Technology are prepping an Android device to launch with their Strand-1 satellite into orbit around the Earth later this year. In an attempt to see how well the device stands the conditions in space, as well as see if the device could be used as the powerhouse of a satellite, the team will be conducting many tests once it reaches orbit. [caption id="attachment_23252" align="aligncenter" width="540" caption="Image Via G1Wallz"][/caption]

Nexus S smartphone works after soaring to 32K meters on a weather balloon

By Shane McGlaun
on 17 Dec, 2010

Folks from Google and some other space enthusiasts got together recently and ran an experiment with the new Samsung Nexus S smartphone to see just how well the smartphone sensors and accelerometers worked when the temperatures decreased. The test involved several smartphones and a trip to the stratosphere.

Google Launches Nexus S Into Space to Test Sensors at 30,000+ meters

By Dylan Bailey
on 15 Dec, 2010

A team at Google has launched a total of 7 Samsung Nexus S devices into "near space." In an effort to test the phones capabilities at 30,000+ meters in the sky, the team constructed boxes made out of beer coolers to safely transport the phones via helium weather balloon.