Do smartphones work outside space? This NASA project will answer you

Aerospace still has many things to discover, smartphones are one of those things.

Thanks to private aerospace companies like Blue Origin, SpaceX and Virgin Galaxy, the door to space is opening up to more people. But whether smartphones and widgets are separate from everyone on Earth today, can they go out to space with their owners?

When not many people on Earth qualify for a review, NASA is probably the most accurate answer to this question when the agency itself has a project to test the performance of smartphones outside the universe.

PhoneSat - project to bring smartphones to space

The project, called PhoneSat , is part of NASA's Small Spacecraft Technology Program , to create ultra-small, ultra-cheap satellites from smartphones and the Arduino platform that can operate. on the low orbit of the Earth. This project was launched in 2009 at the NASA Ames Research Center.

With the aim of creating super-cheap satellites from smartphones and cheap Arduino-enabled circuit boards on the market, PhoneSat's initial mission is simple: to survive in a harsh environment in space for a while. identify, and perform a complex task of photographing the Earth and the space and then sending that image back to the ground.

HTC Nexus One with a navigation ball featured in PhoneSat satellite frame.

The HTC Nexus One is the device of choice for the first smartphone out-of-space travel. At that time, the 1GHz processor of this smartphone was the fastest processor ever set foot in space.

Not only that, smartphone configuration and features are also very suitable for becoming an outer space satellite. They typically have one to two cameras, a range of accelerometer sensors and rotating sensors, electronic compasses, GPS receivers, radio waves and even Li-Ion batteries that allow independent operation.

Steps to prepare for the trip

To assess the viability of this smartphone in a space environment, a series of tests have been made for this HTC Nexus One. Tests showed that the phone was able to withstand vacuum at a pressure of 0,00029 Pascal (about 1/3400 times the air pressure) and extreme temperatures (from -35oC to 60oC).

The smartphone must also pass another harsh test, which is to survive the ejection phase. It was put on a short-range missile and launched at a height of 10km to check. Data from the phone's accelerometer and magnetometer show that they can overcome the conditions to continue into space.

PhoneSat 1.0 is in the hands of Deputy Prime Minister, Philipp Rösler (left).

Finally, HTC Nexus One also passed the vibration and shock tests according to GEVS standards. But to complete all of PhoneSat's tasks, the HTC Nexus One still needs some hardware changes.

The device's default battery has been removed and replaced with 12 Li-Ion batteries that are paired in a 3D printed battery pack. These batteries are not only enough to power the Nexus One, but also satellites within 10 days.

Besides HTC, PhoneSat satellite also has a version of Atmel Atmega 328 Arduino , which controls the phone's operation and restarts it if it detects it is not working properly.

PhoneSat 1.0 with the antenna sticking out and AA batteries attached inside.

It is worth noting that even though the phone passes tests under extreme conditions, it is clear that it cannot catch cell phone waves when it is above 200 km above sea level. Therefore, NASA has installed the StenSat radio transmitter , to send data to the ground. The StenSat transmitter can send data packets at 1200 bps and has a power consumption of about 1W. In addition to it, it is necessary to have a tape measure properly cut to the length needed to make the antenna.

PhoneSat 2.0

In order to perform many different tests during their out-of-space times, the smartphone crew not only has one device, but also three different devices. Besides the two HTC Nexus One of PhoneSat 1.0 project , there is also a Samsung Nexus S belonging to PhoneSat 2.0.

Samsung Nexus S and PhoneSat 2.0.

The same purpose is to create low-cost satellites, but PhoneSat 2.0 has more complex tasks and is therefore also adding more external hardware. The goals with PhoneSat 2.0 are set out: order and process data on smartphones, power generation and satellite speed control. In addition, the project focuses on the life of smartphones and microprocessors in terms of radiation on the Earth's low-range orbit.

With these goals, besides Samsung Nexus S, PhoneSat 2.0 satellite (actually 2.0 beta) also equipped with solar panels to charge 4 tablets of Li-Ion battery, two-way communication, system height control and determination, a network of satellite sensors as well as a new data interface architecture.

While PhoneSat 1.0 is fully battery-operated, PhoneSat 2.0 combines solar power.

While the cost to assemble the PhoneSat 1.0 is about $ 3,500, the cost for the beta version is less than $ 7,000. Software and firmware controlled for these two satellite versions make the most of open source software to reduce costs.

Alexander, Graham and Bell

After a long period of experimentation and preparation, finally on March 21, 2013, the 110 A-ONE Antares rocket put these three smartphones into orbit on Earth to begin their out-of-space journey. me

Alexander satellites (leftmost), Graham (middle) and Bell (rightmost).

Prior to such an important mission for the smartphone industry, there is no such thing as each device has its own name instead of the generic product code as before. The two HTC Nexus One of PhoneSat 1.0 were named Graham and Bell, and the Samsung Nexus S of PhoneSat 2.0 was named Alexander. These names pay tribute to Sir Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the first real phone.

Because it was only deployed in an orbit of 260km and 240km, the journey of these smartphone satellites took place shorter than originally envisaged - lasting only 5 days, instead of 10 days as planned. head.

Radio stations do not specialize in registering PhoneSat signals on www.phonesat.org.

However, smartphones have shown their ability to become low-cost satellites when capturing Earth images and sending them to the ground. Image data is divided into small packets and sent via StenSat radio transmitter mounted on them.

But to gather and combine these image data packages together to become a bigger picture, it is necessary to mention the role of the global amateur radio monitoring stations worldwide. More than 100 amateur radio monitoring stations have teamed up with NASA to constantly monitor PhoneSat's journey and receive satellite image packets back.

The achievement from that collaboration is the photo taken below:

The two photos on the left were taken by Bell satellite, the two on the right are taken by Graham satellite.

Not only did taking photos of the Earth with smartphones, the success of the journey into Earth orbit was also evidenced by a series of data recorded from the sensors on the phone, such as accelerometer, digital compass and spinning. gyration. Smartphones also store data from other sensors on satellites. The monitoring circuitry on the phone also records stable operation, no need to restart the system once. They are solid evidence that smartphones can work well in space.

The success of PhoneSat 1.0 and 2.0 beta created a premise for NASA to continue to make two more launches, with two PhoneSat 2.4 launched on November 20, 2013 on Minotaur ORS-3 and two PhoneSat 2.5 launchers. on April 18, 2014 on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.

PhoneSat 1.0 and 2.0 prototypes were displayed at the 2013 Faire Maker Fair. One HTC Nexus One broke the screen in a speed test when its umbrella opened too early.

The fact that smartphones act as low-cost satellites in the space shows that they can not only survive but can also function well in this environment. Although you can hardly call, text, chat or surf the web in the current space, the fact that the sensors work well shows that you can still use it for other purposes such as watching movies, reading, taking pictures or playing games.

While this NASA project is used for research purposes, it may be in the not too distant future, when traveling to space is more and more popular and more accessible, and if you are a human being lucky to be able to board a tourist train into some space, don't be afraid to take a smartphone.