In the small satellite space, an intrepid team at NASA has figured out 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. They already know it works in a vacuum.)
Here it is mounted in a cubesat chassis with extra batteries and a yellow metal tape measure for an antenna.
Launched with a balloon from central California, this frame is from the video captured by a Go Pro HD camera at 100,000 ft. They tracked it with GPS and the APRS network, and followed the satellite beeping with a handheld antenna and HAM radio gear.
Image courtesy of NASA Ames Research Center 2011
I got some photos of the sounding rocket test over the summer (below) and here’s a cool video summary, and in HD (you can see me digging the V-2 out of the crater in the background =)
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