An iPhone 4 Will Be Hitching a Ride on the Last Space Shuttle

[Maura]

VentureBeat has a very cool news story about an iPhone 4 that is literally about to go into orbit, as it will be stowing away on board when the last space shuttle blasts off on July 8 this year. The phone will be installed with an experimental app called SpaceLab for iOS, which has been developed by Odyssey Space Research. When the space shuttle Atlantis docks with the International Space Station, the iPhone will be used to carry out four experiments, using it’s cameras, gyroscopes and other sensors, and will remain on the ISS for several months, before hitching a ride back home on the Russian Soyuz vehicle next fall.

To elaborate, the four experiments are a “limb tracker”, whereby astronauts can take a picture of the Earth’s limb (the curved edge); a sensor calibration tool that calibrates the iPhone’s gyroscope and accelerometers; latitude and longitude estimation, which works by matching photos of the Earth with wireframes of coastlines; and a test to establish whether or not space radiation affects computer memory by monitoring any unintended changes to single bits in the iPhone 4’s RAM.

“The revolutionary iPhone 4 offers an extraordinary opportunity to demonstrate serious functions previously reserved for more expensive, purpose-built devices,” said Brian Rishikof, Odyssey's Chief Executive Officer. “The potential for using iPhone 4 to both conduct and support in-space research and operations is enormous. The opportunity to make the experience accessible to anyone via the App Store will attract a new generation of space supporters.”

VentureBeat says that the iPhone 4 has been certified to allow it to be taken into space, and that a Houston-based company called NanoRacks will be housing it in their NanoLab, a small microgravity research platform, on the space flight.

You can download the public version of the app here for $0.99, although some features will have to be simulated, due to the fact that we here on earth are still bound by the laws of gravity!

Source: First iPhone in space to launch with last shuttle mission | VentureBeat, via Gizmodo Two Lucky iPhones Will Be Guests On The Last Space Shuttle Mission, Odyssey Space Research

 

[Gregoris]

good decision to take the ip4.. i wonder how well it would do up there

 

[DaytonAnnie]

I just downloaded a really cool app that is free, that will track the last shuttle mission! Here is a link:

GoAtlantis - Space Shuttle STS-135 Mission Tracking for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store

 

[iJeff]

Very cool stuff