NASA'S nano-satellite is powered by Android phones

NASA has disclosed details about a project called PhoneSat, as part of which it built nano-satellites by using off-the-shelf consumer smartphones. The project was started at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California. Developed at a cost of $3500 each, the three prototype satellites have been built in the shape of a cube that measures approximately 10 cm (4 inch).

3KRQH6DW 1.0 LV 1$6$'V fiUVW prototype smartphone satellite. It uses the Nexus One phone from HTC, which runs on the Android OS. The smartphone acts as the computing unit, and its camera is used for observing the earth while the sensors orient the satellite. The NASA website reports that, “NASA engineers kept the total cost of the components to build each of the three prototype satellites in the PhoneSat project to $3,500, by using only commercial off-the-shelf hardware and keeping the design and PLVVLRQ REMHFWLYHV WR D PLQLPXP, IRU WKH fiUVW flLJKW.”

The post added: “NASA PhoneSat engineers also are changing the way missions are designed by rapidly prototyping and incorporating existing commercial technologies and hardware. This approach allows engineers to see what capabilities commercial technologies can provide, rather than trying to custom- design technology solutions to meet set requirements. Engineers can rapidly upgrade the entire satellite's capabilities and add new features for each future generation of PhoneSats.”