NASA has announced that the first iPhone in space will be going up on, in a bittersweet moment for geeks, the last space shuttle mission. And once it gets there, the iPhone will be asked to stay where no smartphone has boldly gone before, helping the space station crew conduct experiments.
The iPhone will fly on the Atlantis for the shuttle’s final mission, dubbed STS-135. Its four-man crew, the smallest since 1983, will spend 12 days in space. Amongst their various missions is delivering supplies to the Space Station. That’s when the iPhone will hold its breath and float on over.
The iPhone’s specific task is to help astronauts track scientific results for various experiments. Specifically, the astronauts will use an app called SpaceLab for iOS ($0.99), developed by Odyssey Space Research. The app is available in the App Store. The company specifically chose the iPhone because of its unique combination of a gyro, accelerometer, cameras, and powerful mobile chip. The iPhone will be housed inside a small research platform built by NanoRacks.
Atlantis is set to launch on July 8 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The iPhone's new home.
Oh Brother.