NASA taking Android smart phones into Space.
In a coop for Google, Nasa have just posted details on how they plan to take the Android phone into space on the International Space station.
Current experiments with the device have seen the Nexus S act as an embedded computing platform and integrated sensor package since it has all the required sensors including gyros (position), accelerometers (movement), magnetometers (compass), cameras, and microphones to provide useful data output to the ground remotely.
Attached to a free flying robot, and with a number of modifications to the original device for safety, including augmenting the device to run on different power supply (Alkaline rather than Lithium batteries), and a Teflon tape cover instead of glass, the smartphones are being used to explore how this technology can be used to supplement man power, and manual tasks inside and outside spacecraft on future missions.
For general data collection from the device, Nasa used a modified version of the open source Cellbots logger program developed by Google, available on the Android Market for any of you would be hackers with dreams of putting your phone to use in a more alien application.
