We’re not entirely sure what the point of this is, but anything involving technology and space is always enough to pique our interest, so here’s a couple of videos showing Google sending some of their Nexus S Android handsets into space.
There’s clearly very little scientific purpose being served by this publicity stunt, but who cares?
It’s smartphones in space!
The project saw Google attaching seven Nexus S smartphones to weather balloons and sending them into near space, over 100,000 feet above the Earth’s surface.
The phones were equipped with various sensors to check their performance during the space jaunt, with each one running different Google apps such as Google Maps, Google Sky Map and Latitude.
The phones remained operational to -50° C, with the Nexus S GPS unit managing to pick up satnav data to around 60,000 feet.
(((Android robot)))
As you can see from the video, a little plastic Android came along for the ride and seemed to be enjoying the view… until it tragically disappears into the abyss.
We hope it survived the re-entry.
