Smartphones in Space! Photos of NASA's PhoneSats & More

Piecing Together PhoneSat Images

Although the ultimate goal of the PhoneSat mission was to determine whether a consumer-grade smartphone can be used as the main flight avionics for a satellite in space, the three miniature satellites (named Alexander, Graham and Bell) also took pictures of Earth and transmitted these “image-data packets” to multiple ground stations on Earth. [Read the Full Story]

Phonesat 1.0 Satellite

NASA's novel Phonesat 1.0 satellite is seen next to a coffee mug for size comparison. A trio of CubeSats makes up the innovative PhoneSat Project to be launched in 2013.

PhoneSat-2 (Graham) Nanosatellite Images

This image was pieced together by PhoneSat-2 (Graham) nanosatellite and the most recently reconstructed by the Ames Phonesat Team and multiple volunteer ham radio operators around the world. [Read the Full Story]

Antares Rocket Takes Off in Test Launch

A trio of NASA PhoneSat satellites rides into space on Orbital Sciences' first Antares rocket. The third try was the charm for the private Antares rocket, which launched into space from a new pad at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, its twin engines roaring to life at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) to carry a mock cargo ship out over the Atlantic Ocean and into orbit. The successful liftoff came after two delays caused by a minor mechanical glitch and bad weather.

PhoneSat: Small Backage, Big Science

A NASA PhoneSat mission team member holds one of three PhoneSat prototypes built to test smartphone technology as the brains of tiny satellites.

PhoneSat Launch

A rocket carrying the full PhoneSat payload launches during a preliminary test. The bottom left shows the view from the smartphone payload

PhoneSat Smartphone

Carmen Felix of the PhoneSat Project holds up the smartphone flown during a rocket test.

PhoneSat 1.0 Nanosatellite Balloon Test

This NASA photo shows the compact PhoneSat 1.0 nanosatellite during high-altitude balloon test.

Strand-1

The unique and innovative satellite, called STRaND-1, is a 30cm CubeSat weighing 4.3kg.

British Android Smartphone Satellite

An Android smartphone forms the heart of the STRaND-1 nanosatellite shown here, which will be launched by the British company Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. in 2011 as part of a technology demo flight.

iPhone with SpaceLab Software

A view of the iPhone 4 SpaceLab for iOS app that will be delivered to the International Space Station on NASA's last-ever shuttle mission STS-135 aboard Atlantis. The two iPhone 4s will be the first iPhones in space.