In an attempt to prove that you don't need a lot of money to make a functioning satellite, British researchers have developed one that has a smartphone as its brain. The STRaND-1 (Surrey Training, Research and Nanosatellite Demonstrator), which weighs just 8-pounds, is cheaper than your average family car. And yet, unlike the average family car, it goes into space.
According to the technology website TechNewsDaily, the satellite will be piloted by an Android smartphone, which has a software suite that "incorporates advanced guidance, navigation and control systems, as well as pulse plasma thrusters to propel it through space."
