Bell, also known as PhoneSat 1.0b or PhoneSat v1b was a technology demonstration satellite operated by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

Ames Research Center The Ames Research Center (ARC), also known as NASA Ames, is a major NASA research center at Moffett Federal Airfield in California's Silicon Valley. It was founded in 1939 as the second National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) labo ...

, which was launched in April 2013. Part of the

PhoneSat PhoneSat is an ongoing NASA project of building nanosatellites using unmodified consumer-grade off-the-shelf smartphones and Arduino platform and launching them into Low Earth Orbit. This project is part of NASA's Small Spacecraft Technology Prog ...

programme, it was one of the first three PhoneSat spacecraft to be launched. A PhoneSat-1.0 satellite, ''Bell'' was built to the single-unit (1U)

CubeSat A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite based around a form factor consisting of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSats ...

specification, and measures in each dimension. The satellite is based on an off-the-shelf

HTC HTC Corporation ( zh, t=宏達國際電子股份有限公司, s=宏达国际电子股份有限公司, p=Hóngdá Guójì Diànzǐ Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī, first=t) or High Tech Computer Corporation, (literally ''Hongda International Electron ...

Nexus One

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whi ...

which serves in place of an onboard computer and avionics system. Unlike the more advanced PhoneSat-2.0 spacecraft, ''Bell'' is powered by non-rechargeable batteries, and has no attitude control system, however onboard sensors can be used to determine and monitor the satellite's attitude. The cameras built into the phones aboard ''Bell'' and its sister satellite ''Graham'' have been used to return images of the Earth from space. Unlike ''Graham'', Bell has an external Iridium modem attached to one of its side. Independent battery can supply power for the modem for 2–3 days. ''Bell'' was named after

Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and T ...

, the inventor of the

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

. The two other PhoneSat spacecraft launched aboard the same rocket were named ''

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

'' and ''

Graham Graham and Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan ...

''. The three PhoneSat spacecraft, along with the commercial

Dove 1 Planet Labs PBC (formerly Planet Labs, Inc. and Cosmogia, Inc.) is an American public Earth imaging company based in San Francisco, California. Their goal is to image the entirety of the Earth daily to monitor changes and pinpoint trends. The co ...

satellite, were launched as secondary payloads aboard the maiden flight of the

Antares Antares is the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius. It has the Bayer designation α Scorpii, which is Latinised to Alpha Scorpii. Often referred to as "the heart of the scorpion", Antares is flanked by σ Scorpii and τ ...

carrier rocket; flight A-ONE. The primary payload was the

Cygnus Mass Simulator Antares A-ONE mission was the maiden flight of Orbital Sciences Corporation' Antares launch vehicle including the ascent to space and accurate delivery of a simulated payload, the Cygnus Mass Simulator (CMS), which was launched 21 April 2013. I ...

. Liftoff occurred at 21:00 UTC on 21 April 2013, from Pad 0A of the

Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) is a commercial space launch facility located at the southern tip of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island in Virginia, just east of the Delmarva Peninsula and south of Chincoteague, Virgi ...

, following attempts on 17 and 20 April which had been scrubbed due to an umbilical problem and high-level winds respectively. The launch was conducted by

Orbital Sciences Corporation Orbital Sciences Corporation (commonly referred to as Orbital) was an American company specializing in the design, manufacture, and launch of small- and medium- class space and launch vehicle systems for commercial, military and other governmen ...

, however the CubeSats were launched under a contract with Spaceflight Services, using dispensers produced by

ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...

. ''Alexander'', ''Graham'' and ''Bell'' were deployed from a single ISIPod dispenser, while Dove 1 was deployed from a second such dispenser. On 27 April 2013 the satellite was confirmed to have burned up in the atmosphere, with instruments still running up until then.

References

{{Use American English, date=January 2014 Spacecraft launched in 2013 CubeSats Spacecraft launched by Antares rockets