Graham, also known as PhoneSat 1.0a or PhoneSat v1a was a technology demonstration satellite operated by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

's Ames Research Center, which was launched in April 2013. Part of the PhoneSat programme, it was one of the first three PhoneSat spacecraft to be launched. A PhoneSat-1.0 satellite, ''Graham'' was built to the single-unit (1U)

CubeSat A CubeSat is a class of small satellite with a form factor of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit,, url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5418c831e4b0fa4ecac1bacd/t/5f24997b6deea10cc52bb016/1596234122437/CDS+REV14+2020-07-3 ...

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

smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

which serves in place of an onboard computer and avionics system. Unlike the more advanced PhoneSat-2.0 spacecraft, ''Graham'' 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 ''Graham'' and its sister satellite ''Bell'' was used to return images of the Earth from space. ''Graham'' was named after

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

, the inventor of the

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables 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 ...

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

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. 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 ar ...

'' and ''

Bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...

''. The three PhoneSat spacecraft, along with the commercial Dove 1 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 Latinisation of names, Latinised to Alpha Scorpii. Often referred to as "the heart of the scorpion", Antares is flanked by ...

carrier rocket; flight A-ONE. The primary payload was the Cygnus Mass Simulator. Liftoff occurred at 21:00 UTC on 21 April 2013, from Pad 0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, 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, however the CubeSats were launched under a contract with Spaceflight Services, using dispensers produced by

ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

. ''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

{{Orbital launches in 2013 Spacecraft launched in 2013 CubeSats Spacecraft launched by Antares rockets