Skip to Content

We Know the Google NexusOne Can Survive a Hard Vacuum Because Someone Shot It into Space

A consortium of students and NASA is sending phones into low earth orbit because they’re as good or better than conventional nanosatellites

I don’t know why they don’t just write this right on the box: “Can survive an absolute vacuum!” Owing to its superior processing capabilities and small size, the Google NexusOne (as well as the original HTC Android) are under continuous testing as the brains of small, “cube” satellites.

“A stock Android HTC … mounted in a cubesat chassis with extra batteries and a yellow metal tape measure for an antenna.”

It’s all part of an educational effort spearheaded by the Mavericks Civilian Space Foundation, which has found that “a stock Android HTC phone can work just fine as a low-cost satellite (it has a better processor than many satellites, and decent multi-axis sensors and GPS.)”

The second image at the top of this post (of the cubesat) is from a launch via balloon, which took the satellite to 100,000 feet. The rest of the pictures, captured from this video, are from a launch that used a small conventional rocket.

Unfortunately, the two phones used in this launch did not survive – despite the rocket’s parachute, its internals turned into a crumple zone upon impact. Next step: using a more rugged phone.

Keep Reading

Most Popular

Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. But nobody knows exactly why.

And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.

OpenAI teases an amazing new generative video model called Sora

The firm is sharing Sora with a small group of safety testers but the rest of us will have to wait to learn more.

Google’s Gemini is now in everything. Here’s how you can try it out.

Gmail, Docs, and more will now come with Gemini baked in. But Europeans will have to wait before they can download the app.

This baby with a head camera helped teach an AI how kids learn language

A neural network trained on the experiences of a single young child managed to learn one of the core components of language: how to match words to the objects they represent.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.