Android In Space: STRaND-1 Satellite To Activate Nexus One

An anonymous reader writes "In as little as a few days, the British-made Surrey Training, Research, and Nanosatellite Demonstrator (STRaND-1) satellite will begin transitioning its key systems over to a completely stock Android Nexus One smartphone that's been bolted to the bottom of it. The mission is designed to test the endurance of off-the-shelf consumer hardware, and to validate Android as a viable platform for controlling low-cost spacecraft. STRaND-1 managed to beat NASA's own 'PhoneSat' mission to the punch, which will see a Nexus One and Nexus S launched into space aboard the April test flight of the Orbital Sciences Antares commercial launch vehicle, the prime competitor to SpaceX's Falcon 9."

Comments

Re:Sort of pointless

[sl4shd0rk]

Why pay through the nose, both in terms of dollars and in terms of horrendous lead times, for space-qualified parts when commercial, industrial, and automotive parts work just fine?

Heh.. Proof right there that you're not affiliated with a US government agency. And, to answer your question, the reason is to keep the tax dollars funneling into the privatized black-holes* It's rampant.
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http://rt.com/usa/blackwater-security-iri-report-300/

http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Corporate-Greed/ALEC-s-Funnel-Turns-Public-Dollars-to-Corporate-Profits

http://www.alternet.org/one-states-poor-excuse-funneling-taxpayer-cash-private-schools

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/03/01/1181678/-Walker-s-Plan-for-Wisconsin-Public-Schools-Make-Them-Private