Smartphones Journey to Space in New, Leaner Spacecraft Era

An article I wrote for Electronic Products.

Created with affordable, everyday technology, small spacecraft are paving the way for future ideas

If there’s anyone who knows about spacecraft technology, it’s the Chief of Mission Design Division (MDD) at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Chad Frost. Being at the forefront of the aerospace industry for more than 25 years, Frost has designed and analyzed many flight control systems for aircraft. Now leading the MDD, he and his staff develop new spacecraft, technologies, tools, and mission concepts to accomplish revolutionary science on strict budgets.

Each year, millions of dollars go into spacecraft hardware, avionics, electronics, and software, even for small satellites. But as the world’s technology constantly advances, new and unexpected ideas are born.

“A few years ago, we had the intriguing idea that you might actually be able to build a spacecraft around a smartphone,” Frost said. “As a society, we’ve driven consumer electronics really hard to the point where they are just amazingly capable little devices, and ridiculously affordable for what they can do.”

With that in mind, NASA began brainstorming ways to build systems around familiar everyday technology. Intrigued by building a much smaller spacecraft based entirely on consumer devices and other low-cost systems, NASA got to work on combining a consumer-grade smartphone in conjunction with other commercial off-the-shelf components. The result was the PhoneSat project, the joint effort of three smartphones in orbit, as part of NASA’s nanosatellite mission.

PhoneSat Image

Image taken by the PhoneSat 2.0 (Graham) nanosatellite. Reconstructed by the Ames PhoneSat Team. Credit: NASA Ames

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NASA brings space to Earth

An article I wrote for Electronic Products.

American lives are touched by space technology every day

Since 1976, over 1,600 documented NASA technologies have worked their way into everyday life, creating jobs and improving the quality of life in the United States. The Space Shuttle Program, which was the United States government’s manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011, has generated at least 120 technology spinoffs that many Americans rely on every day.

Unexpected Discoveries

Among the most outstanding spinoffs developed from the Space Shuttle Program are life-saving medical innovations, energy-conserving insulation and design elements, and protective eyewear.

Some of the most important discoveries were advances in medical technology, such as the creation of heart pumps. The lives of more than 200 people were saved with tiny heart pumps developed from space shuttle fuel pump technology.  The miniaturized ventricular assist pumps were a result of collaboration between doctors and NASA engineers. The pumps are one inch in diameter, weighing less than four ounces, and have kept hundreds of patients alive as they waited for transplants.

NASA Heart Pump

NASA’s artificial heart pump. Image via nasa.gov.

One of the shuttle’s most flexible spinoffs is NASA’s form of aerogel, the world’s lightest solid and one of the most effective insulators, that was used to keep liquid hydrogen fuel for the shuttle below -253 degrees C. Now aerogel is used to protect homes and industrial equipment, warm the feet of mountain climbers, and treat painful circulatory disorders.

NASA Aerogel

NASA’s aerogel. Image via nasa.gov.

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Smartphone used to hack into a plane cockpit

An article I wrote for Electronic Products

A security researcher was able to hack an aircraft’s cockpit with an Android smartphone

After you board a plane and are safely buckled in your seat, the pilot reminds you and the other passengers with their noses tucked into their touchscreens to power off all electronic devices. If they interfere with the in-flight management system, there could be some serious disturbances. But still, there are the few testy travelers who ignore the pilot’s requests, because, really, how much harm can a little smart phone do?

Apparently a lot, as was evidenced by a security researcher, who claimed that he could hack into an aircraft’s cockpit with his Android mobile phone.

Android Hack

Image via marketplace.org.

At the annual security conference, Hack In The Box, which took place in Amsterdam this year, security researcher, Hugo Teso, demonstrated that it’s possible to take full control of aircraft flight systems and communications. All you need are two things: an Android smartphone and a specialized attack code. Continue reading →

The sun’s strongest flare this year

An article I wrote for Electronic Products.

As the sun reaches the end of its 11-year cycle, solar flares will become increasingly common

Classified as an M6.5 flare, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured a striking image of the strongest flare emitted from the sun this year.

Solar Flare

The M6.5 solar flare captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. Image via nasa.gov.

Though it’s 10 times less powerful than the strongest flares recorded, which are labeled as X-class flares, an M-class flare, like the one pictured below, can still cause space weather effects near Earth. This particular flare produced a radio blackout, categorized as an R2 on a scale between R1 and R5 on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) space weather scales, but has since died out. Continue reading →

The History of the Cuba Libre

An article I wrote for Chilled Magazine.

Known in the United States as the classic rum and Coke, the Cuba Libre is among the most popular of drinks. It can be found anywhere, from inside the plastic cups of college students to the local bar to high-end fancy resorts. It’s refreshing, it’s delicious, and it’s simple to make.

Image

Though it’s loved around the world by people of all ages, the story behind this famous cocktail’s origin is a bit murky. Most accounts agree that it dates back to Havana around 1900, after the Spanish-American War, which began and ended in 1898 and led to Cuban independence. The name of the drink, Cuba Libre, means “Free Cuba,” which was the battle cry of the Cuban Liberation Army. Continue reading →

The Quest to Discover Mad Science

An article I wrote for Electronic Products.

Every weekend, “The King of Random,” Grant Thompson, performs his very own risky science experiments

Dubbing himself as “The King of Random,” Grant Thompson knows how to think outside of the box. From creating butter candles and paper plate speakers to lighting a fire with pee and making hi-power balloon shooters, it looks like Thompson’s daring curiosity will take him just about anywhere.

But believe it or not, Thompson said most of his rather risky ideas come from life in general. He has a knack for recreating ordinary, everyday items into something different, and totally extraordinary. “Some are just for fun and for science demonstrations, but mainly it’s a quest for knowledge in exploring how the world around us works,” he said about his experiments.

Homemade Rocket Fuel

Interested in making homemade rocket fuel? The King of Random has the recipe!

Thompson’s first project began with an Oxy-Hydrogen generator. After seeing an advertisement online claiming that you could use water as fuel to run cars and motors, naturally, Thompson couldn’t ignore the instinct to try it himself. “I was skeptical about the claims, and rightly so, but that led me on a journey to explore the claims, and after a few days I learned that the water was being split into hydrogen and oxygen gasses which were highly explosive,” he said. With this information in mind, he discovered a step-by-step instruction guide on how to build a simple generator, and began toying with it. As for the results of this project, you’ll have to see for yourself in his video, “Water To Fuel Converter (Explosive Gas by Electrolysis)” as well as “How To Make Water Explode!” Continue reading →

The Fake-Nice Phone Voice

My voice changes when I’m talking to an animal or a small child. It becomes high pitched and gentle at the same time. But you know what? It’s real. It’s out of my control. It sounds how I want it to come across because it’s how those cute critters make me feel. Welcoming, kind, and affectionate.

Marshall Phone

That phone voice most of you have – that stuff is just phony. Seriously, what’s up with that? That’s one thing I’ll always remember about my mother. That absolutely false voice she puts on whenever the phone rings. She doesn’t have an ugly voice or anything, but when having a conversation with some stranger on the other side of the phone across the world or something, her voice becomes soft as a baby’s ass and she pronounces each letter in every word. She becomes so proper as if she’s talking to the president of the United States. Let me explain. Naturally, she doesn’t pronounce her Rs. She’ll normally speak like this: “I fuhgot to wawta the plants. Um so ty-ud. Damn it.”  Now let’s say some pushy, pervert, thief, puppy-hating salesman happens to call her to try to sell her an alarm system. She doesn’t know this guy, but she’s sweeter to him than she’s been to my father throughout her entire life, and the guy’s clearly pressuring her. “No thank you. No, not right now,” she’ll gently say. “Thank you (fake laugh). We already have an alaRm system and a big dOG to guaRd the house. No, I don’t need that, thank you though. No (fake laugh). Nope. Alrighty. You too. Alright, buh-bye.” (Hangs up, says bad things about how annoying he was.) It’s so bizarre.
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