On the 8^th of July, two iPhones will be aboard the last shuttle launch ever Atlantis!  The iPhones have had an App installed, Spacelab for iOS. The astronauts on board will then use the iPhones to conduct experiments. The four experiments are:

• Limb Tracker- The astronauts will take a picture of the earths curve, this then will be allow for the iPhone to calculate its altitude.

• Sensor Calibration Tool- This uses the phones pictures and the inbuilt motion sensor to attune the phones gyroscope (allows the phone to know which way it is facing) and accelerometer (measure the acceleration force).

• State Acquisition- Using images of the earth from the phone, this will calculate the iPhone’s position in relation to where it is passing over.

• Life-cycle Flight Instrumentation- This will monitor the effects of radiation on the iPhone. In space everyone maybe exposed to certain level of radiation, not just iPhone’s!

The Spacelab App can be bought in the App Store, which will allow for users to gain the ability to conduct some of these experiments. Though some of the experiments will be simulated due to the fact we live in a gravity enriched environment.

Apple this time has out done themselves.  Though they probably had nothing to do with suggesting putting iPhone on a shuttle. They will be delighted even 200 miles up, a group of individuals will be going “wow that’s a cool app, I must get that one”.

Source: Venturebeat