“Two Apple iPads are packed on board the next unmanned resupply vehicle to fly to the space station, set for launch later this month,” Robert Z. Pearlman reports for collectSPACE.com. “And a stuffed toy doll of the red bird from Rovio Mobile’s ‘Angry Birds’ puzzle game will accompany the next three crew members to depart Earth for the ISS next month.”
“The iPads will augment Apple iPod music players already aboard the station, while the red Angry Bird toy will help by signaling to the launching cosmonauts and NASA astronaut that they have made it to space, when it starts to float,” Pearlman reports.
“‘The Russians are flying two iPads on the next Progress. They’re going to be used for entertainment purposes only,’ NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries told collectSPACE.com on Tuesday,” Pearlman reports. “The tablets will be the first of their type on the ISS, which is otherwise equipped with laptop computers, Apple iPods and even an iPhone. NASA is, however, assessing tablets for their possible future use in space.”
“There’s no word whether the iPads will arrive at the station pre-loaded with Angry Birds, the video game, but the space station crew will only need to wait a couple more weeks to be able to stage their own zero-g version,” Pearlman reports. “As revealed on Monday (Oct. 24) by cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, a red Angry Bird doll will be aboard when he and two crewmates, Anatoli Ivanishin and Dan Burbank, lift off in the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft on Nov. 13 at 11:14 p.m. EST (0414 GMT Nov. 14). ‘According to the existing tradition, we take with us small charms,’ Shkaplerov said at a pre-flight press conference in Russia. He explained the custom of flying a toy as a ‘zero-g indicator.'”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “BluefinPro” for the heads up.]
Accelerometer. How does that work in zero G?
Acceleration us a fundamental quality of the universe. There are many elementary schools you could attend to learn about the difference between gravity and acceleration.
true, but if those apps are designed to use a 1 g downward reference for a baseline for ‘steering a car’ games, etc., they might have a problem.
..and with that attitude I hope to God you have nothing to do with teaching..at any level….had a teacher, only once, with that belittling quality about her. damaged a lot of kids and am pretty tight with old classmates now in college, and she was the ugliest part of education for all of us to this date.
“Acceleration us a fundamental quality of the universe.”
Me Robert.
Me not know how to spell check sentence before spewing vitriolic, arrogant, mean crap at people who ask innocent questions.
Me doesn’t make us sentences that make sense.
Me dummy.
Me make love to sheep.
+1000 FTW
Actually Robert, you are specifically wrong. While your “take” on acceleration is factual, as it pertains to the question it is completely wrong. The accelerometers function by sensing the gravitational acceleration to determine the orientation of the unit. (which way is “down”)
Dynamic acceleration (movement) is not determined via the accelerometers but rather by the gyro mechanism.
Arrogant AND cluelessness is no way to go through life.
In answer to UAEUTE’s question, It won’t work, in zero G the iPad’s acceleration sensors will be unable to determine what direction “down” is, however the internal gyro would still be able to determine dynamic movement.
iPads also have gyroscopes which allow the device to sense motion in 3 dimensions… This information is combined with the accelerometer.
I don’t think it will be a problem. Besides, what’s to say that the iPods already up there aren’t iPod touches?
Only nerds who haven’t lost their virginity are even aware of the accelerometer.
Just like the mercury in a thermostat, the accelerometer has a tiny particle of liquid metal (mercury) that gets placed in a fix position thanks to gravity. Since there is no gravity in space, that tiny piece of metal is not in it’s typical position, so any action requiring the accelerometer requires a extra acceleration for a longer space.
So, how it will behave? slow, really really slow.
Hmm…sounds like a little product placement…genius! Getting quite a bit of bang for the buck…
I hope no pigs have sneaked onboard or there could be chaos!
only if they were stupid enough to bring a slingshot, too…;)