back to article Nexus 1 put in orbit to prove 'in space, no one can hear you scream'

Surrey-based space boffins have put a Google Nexus 1 into orbit to see how an Android phone copes with the rigours of space - and whether they can hear it scream. The handset hasn't been switched on yet. It's being carried in STRaND-1: a 4.3kg microsatellite that was itself carried into space by an Indian rocket, ISRO PSLV-C20 …

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  1. Hyphen
    FAIL

    Mobile Twitter?

    Why link to the mobile version of Twitter? It looks awful on a full size screen!

    1. diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

      Re: Mobile Twitter?

      All right, calm down. Worst things have happened at sea. I've fixed the link.

      C.

      1. Tom 7

        Re: Mobile Twitter?

        it looks shit on a full sized screen too. But the application of my own style sheet improves it no end - thank firefox for the x!

  2. TeeCee Gold badge
    Alert

    Hang on....

    Surely a Nexus 1, like so much other stuff, has one of those little EU logos saying it must be returned for recycling to an approved organisation and not binned, sent to landfill, burned up on atmospheric reentry, etc?

    Is someone going to get into trouble?

    1. Jon Green
      Mushroom

      Re: Hang on....

      You might want to address those concerns to the originators of the (when I last checked) 32 nuclear reactors in orbit!

      1. Grimster
        Facepalm

        Re: Hang on....

        Well if we've got that crap floating around the planet anyway, what's the reason for not shooting all our nuclear waste at the sun rather than contaminating Cumbria for the next 80-million years?

        We could ask the Norks for a delivery system as we appear to have been unable to come up with that new fangled rocket stuff since 1971.

        What's the worst that could happen?

        Huh?

        1. ravenviz Silver badge
          Boffin

          Re: Hang on....

          I think the problem is if it ends up in the Atlantic Ocean instead.

    2. Peter2 Silver badge

      Re: Hang on....

      I'm not convinced that the WEEE regulation covers being burned up on re-entry. Still, is the requirement not on EEE producers to pay for an items "reuse, recycling and recovery"? If so, this could produce a whole new level (like out of this world) for people trolling these companies. (Could you collect my phone from the Lagrange2 recycling point please?)

  3. petur
    Meh

    no screams, just explosions...

    "The screaming is quite silly given the way sound fails to propagate through the vacuum of space (much to the annoyance of many a Hollywood director)"

    It didn't annoy them enough, they were/are happy to have loud explosions...

    1. Annihilator
      Meh

      Re: no screams, just explosions...

      That's what I thought - they just ignored it. That and fireballs that fall back into the center of the explosion despite the no gravity, and debris that doesn't shoot off into oblivion at the explosive speed.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: no screams, just explosions...

        Not to mention the speed of sound being equal to the speed of light.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

        2. relpy
          Mushroom

          Re: no screams, just explosions...

          Sorry chaps, but:

          Spaceships do make sound and explosions in space do go bang.

          And you can even hear the noise pretty much as soon as you see the event.

          It all just depends where you put the microphone.

          (Though I'll grant you that fireballs don't collapse back in on themselves).

  4. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. The lone lurker
      Stop

      Re: Windows Phone was too heavy to put in orbit

      Please stop now, it was funny for a while but you're trying too hard now and I'm starting to feel embarrassed for you whenever I see your posts.

  5. This post has been deleted by its author

  6. GBL Initialiser
    Trollface

    Official: Android makes people scream, nobody can hear the cries for help ;)

    1. wowfood

      Official Apple Maps make people scream, but nobody can hear their cries for help since they're somewhere in the middle of a desert.

      1. GBL Initialiser

        Samsung makes you scream but nobody is allowed to hear because Apple patented it.

    2. JaitcH
      Unhappy

      nobody can hear the cries for help

      you must be confused and thinking of the Apple product that kept on dropping calls.

      1. GBL Initialiser

        You will need to narrow it down a bit. Was it one that blew up too?

    3. P. Lee
      Coat

      > Official: Android makes people scream, nobody can hear the cries for help ;)

      Wrong. Google hears, adds another data point to their database and asks if you'd like to buy some earmuffs.

  7. AndrueC Silver badge
    Facepalm

    I love the way the BBC article refers to lack of sound propagation in a vacuum as a 'theory'.

    1. JDX Gold badge

      Gravity is also a theory. What's your point?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      What's the problem? Scientific theory is based off evidence. Creationists bastardise the term so it makes it sound like it's up for debate, like with Evolutionary Theory.

      1. JDX Gold badge

        You don't mean creationist, you mean young-earth creationist. They're a pretty small minority so why the rush to bring them into a serious story?

        1. NukEvil
          Trollface

          Probably because his mommy and daddy still administer beatings to his delicate little bottom in the name of God every now and then.

          1. JDX Gold badge

            Which post are YOU responding to?

      2. AndrueC Silver badge
        Headmaster

        From the news article:

        "In theory, because space is a vacuum there are no molecules, so sound cannot travel as vibrations are not carried."

        In my opinion as a native English speaker that's a silly thing to say. 'In theory' means 'not yet proven' or 'I think so'. The above sentence means that the author is not sure about either the lack of molecules in a vacuum or that the lack prevents vibration and thus sound. Either way it's silly. The matter is beyond dispute and has been for a long, long time. The first two words are misleading and should not be present. The third word should probably also not then be present since I was taught never to start a sentence with 'because' :)

        Now going back to the original tagline one could debate whether 'in space' means 'in the vacuum of space' or 'not on the surface of a planet'. If the mobile was inside someone's spacesuit then the English language allows us to state it as being 'in space' but of course the suit wearer would be able to hear it scream. So the tagline might actually be wrong. If you are in an environment where you are capable of screaming then almost by definition you will hear it and there are several ways that other people could hear you :D

        1. Mark .

          I agree - they also say "They hope to use a purpose-built app to test the theory, immortalised in the film Alien, that "in space no-one can hear you scream"."

          Which again sounds more like "theory" in its sloppy non-scientific use, in particular, the way they say "the theory", suggesting there is a specific scientific theory of "in space no-one can hear you scream". It also again carries the implication that this is still a matter of debate.

  8. David_H
    FAIL

    Scream

    No-one in space, but what about all the tax payers, who have to fund this drivel!

    1. Jon Green
      Boffin

      Re: Scream

      Actually, as I understand it (and I'm one of the team, although I'm speaking on my own behalf), much of the funding came from Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., a commercial entity. The total cost of the satellite, according to the STRaND-1 FAQs, is "only slightly more than a high-end family car," so we're hardly talking big bucks.

      In any case, that app was only one of a number chosen by open competition, and the mission itself is designed to achieve a large number of research, development and strategic objectives. By a successful launch, and our first telecommand/telemetry exchanges, we've already achieved a fair few of them. Screams in space is a nice publicity point, but hardly the point of the exercise.

      1. AndrueC Silver badge
        Pint

        Re: Scream

        and I'm one of the team

        Upvoted because you do 'space stuff' for a living :)

  9. Parax
    FAIL

    Scream

    Of course they'll hear it scream, the microphone and speaker are physically attached. Only when totally separated by a vacuum will they not hear it. They would need two satellites.

    Astronauts are able to communicate on space walks without radio by making physical helmet contact and just talking.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Scream

      The astronauts are talking into an atmosphere, which propgates the sound waves to the inside of their helmets. The helmet shell absorbs the sound wave and vibrates. Physically touching the helmets together allows that vibration to be propgated to the other helmet and thus into the atmosphere inside of the other helmet.

      Whether the nexus screams will be heard will depend upon whether there is anyway for vibration to propogate between it and the device which is listening for the scream.

      1. Shagbag

        Re: Scream

        Are you saying that if I find two astronauts and put their 'helmets' together, we will be able to hear the Screams from the Nexus 1?

        This new learning amazes me...

        1. Charles Manning

          You won't hear the Nexus 1

          But you will hear from the Million Moms complaining about space-homo-filth.

          http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/02/26/porcine_rumpus/

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Whether there is anyway for vibration to propogate

        Such as a solid satellite chassis? Sound will travel through solids too..

        1. Jon Green
          Pint

          Re: Whether there is anyway for vibration to propogate

          Bingo! That's what I'm expecting, too.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Such as a solid satellite chassis? Sound will travel through solids too..

          Assuming the nexus hasn't been mounted to the chassis with some kind of vibration asorbing/dampening technology, like say rubber or foam mounts, yes. The article doesn't detail how it's all fitted together.

      3. AbelSoul

        Re: Scream

        Given that both microphone and speaker are in the same craft* there will at least be an indirect connection so, depending on the sensitivity of the microphone it may well pick up something.

        *when this mission was first announced, they were planning on using the microphone and speaker on the same device, which could be even more likely to pick up it's own vibration . It's not entirely clear from the wording this article ("microphone and separate camera") that this is no longer the case.

        1. diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

          Re: Re: Scream

          "It's not entirely clear from the wording this article"

          Apologies - the meaning was slightly lost in the edit: the phone will try to record the screams from its own microphone. I've made that clear in the piece.

          C.

        2. Jon Green

          Re: Scream

          Good point. Everyone who knows is over at the Ops Centre, or taking a well-deserved rest, but I'll come back to you about it tomorrow.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            I'll come back to you about it tomorrow.

            and?

  10. JaitcH
    Go

    For the technically minded ...

    Check out:

    < http://www.uk.amsat.org/ >, < http://www.360app.co.uk/ >, < http://www.screaminspace.com/ > (terrible web site contrast), < http://www.sstl.co.uk/Missions/STRaND-1--Launched-2013 >. Also: < http://amsat-uk.org/2013/02/26/radio-amateurs-asked-to-collect-strand-1-telemetry-data/ >, < http://amsat-uk.org/satellites/strand-1/strand-1-videos/ >, < http://amsat-uk.org/2013/02/07/isro-plans-sarl-and-amateur-radio-satellite-launch-for-february-14/ >.

    You can use SkyGrabber software < http://www.skygrabber.com/ > (works with PC card or Dongle) and an appropriate antenna.Orbit map: < http://www.uk.amsat.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Initial-Pass-of-STRaND-1-640x451.png >.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Open the pod bay doors HAL

    that's all I have to say ....

    1. Rob Carriere

      Re: Open the pod bay doors HAL

      Just so long as it is not the iPod bay doors...

  12. Steve Evans

    Oh nos!

    I hope they left it in flight mode or, as every flight attendant will tell you, everything will explode!

  13. Sureo

    Isn't there enough junk orbiting the earth already?

    1. Jon Green
      Boffin

      It's a fair comment...

      ...but one of the objectives of STRaND-1 is to test the WARP-DRiVE and pulsed plasma thrusters which will help to create a "de-orbit burn" to accelerate the satellite safely back into an atmospheric burn-out at end of mission.

      For exactly the reasons you give, end-of-life planning's becoming far more important in mission planning these days. The irony is that in order to achieve a successful de-orbit sequence, we have to launch hardware and test the technologies we want to use on much more substantial spacecraft in future. Ground-based simulation and testing are all well and good, but you don't really know for sure until you try these things in the operational environment, and you don't want to find out for the first time that they don't work, when they're attached to something half the size of a bus!

      STRaND-1 is only 3.5kgs all-up weight, and just three stacked 10cm cubes in size (before the solar panels deploy; add 20cm width afterwards). Whilst it would do serious damage at 28,000kph to a static target, the chances of an accidental collision are slight, and it has thrusters to move it out of the way of incident junk. It's meant to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

    2. Shagbag

      I believe there are 6 men on the International Space Station at the moment, so if consider their 'junk' to be too much, then you could be correct. Maybe ask John Tyner.

  14. Lee D Silver badge

    Androids. In space. Under company control.

    Weyland-Yutani written all over it. I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit.

  15. ecofeco Silver badge
    Coat

    Speaking of Vacuum...

    Wow, did this thread degenerate quickly.

  16. Graham Newton

    I know Surrey Satellites know their stuff BUT is the phone really unmodified? First of all it has to survive launch vibration. Once in space it will be exposed to radiation and be in a vacuum. Normal electronic don;t really work well in a vacuum. Circuit boards tend to arc so destroying themselves. Non radiation hardened parts will probably fail pretty quickly.

    1. Robert Moore
      Go

      @Graham Newton

      I can't speak (type) to most of your comment, but I would think any device that is designed to survive for years in my pocket would have little difficulty surviving the stress of the launch.

      As for the rest, I suppose they will find out pretty soon.

    2. Paul Crawford Silver badge

      @Graham Newton

      I wondered about that - more specifically about the phone's battery still being fitted and/or out-gassing from the LCD panel.

      1. Paul Crawford Silver badge

        Re: @Graham Newton

        Also the arcing problem tends to be during out-gas when the pressure get low, and you have high electric fields (e.g. radio transmitter filters with high Q resonators). Less of a problem one you really have near-vacuum.

    3. Jon Green
      Boffin

      Nothing much changed

      One of the objectives is to discover how well mobile phone electronics fare in space, as the compactness and low energy consumption make them - not necessarily attached to a phone! - very attractive for satellite missions. The phone really is pretty-much unmodified, software notwithstanding.

      Radiation is an interesting question. Of course, STRaND-1 is in a low earth orbit, like most satellites, keeping it in a much lower risk region than geostationary or interplanetary space, but radiation affects all components to some extent and, with only a 3.5kg orbit weight, STRaND can't offer much shielding to any of its manifest.

      The satellite has had vibration, vacuum and wide-range thermal cycling testing as part of its launch qualification, and the Nexus showed no issues I'm aware of. How well the LCD copes in the longer term will be interesting to see. Of course, in a large-budget commercial mission (as opposed to this research mission), there wouldn't be an LCD, so that's a bit moot. Everything other than the phone that can be conformally coated has been, and we've another on-board computer that's handling the first part of the mission, so even if the phone does fail there's plenty still running.

  17. Hairy Spod

    A stupid question....

    Even if sound isn't heard up in space, given the lack of other vibration sources and that the movement of the speaker cant be transferred into any air.... I wonder would the microphone be able to pick up the vibrations created by the speaker as they go through the phone?

  18. ravenviz Silver badge
    Happy

    The screaming is quite silly

    But so are people, we are us, we can do what we want!

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