NASA using Android in Space
InfoQ
On September 1st, the Official Google Blog reported that two Android-based Nexus phones have been transported to the ISS in the last manned Space Shuttle mission ST-135. Researchers want to investigate how robots can help humans experiment and live in space more efficiently.
The phones enable the robots respectively satellites called SPHERES to add services& that otherwise astronauts would have to provide such as gathering sensor data or capturing video. This is remarkable, because commodity software and hardware are beginning to become building blocks of system architectures formerly comprising only proprietary constituents….
What began more than two decades ago is still in the focus of NASA. In particular, Terry Fong, Director of the Intelligent Robotics Group, is investigating the use of cutting-edge technologies in robots which support men in space. For this reason, the group has equipped the three SPHERES on the ISS with Samsung’s Android-based Nexus S handsets. Each SPHERE satellite comprises functionality for power, propulsion, computing, and navigation. Using an extension port the Android phones have been attached to the SPHERE in order to extend this functionality.
PJ sez: So I guess Apple and Microsoft should probably sue NASA or something. Snort.
vruz: it’ll be cool if they try to issue a search warrant in space.
