13 Facts About SPHERES

Each SPHERES satellite is an 18-sided polyhedron, with a mass of about 4.

From 2006, three SPHERES units are being used in the International Space Station for a variety of experiments.

SPHERES program is expected to continue until 2017, and possibly further.

SPHERES project is primarily funded by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency .

SPHERES satellites are able to connect to the International Space Station's on-board Wi-Fi network for tasks that require a higher data bandwidth.

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SPHERES satellites determine their position and attitude by using 23 on-board ultrasonic receivers and 5 external ultrasonic reference beacons.

SPHERES satellites are powered using two non-rechargeable 12v battery packs.

SPHERES program utilizes supporting facilities located at NASA's Ames Research Centre.

SmartSPHERES experiment equipped the three SPHERES satellite aboard the International Space Station with Nexus S smartphones that were delivered via the Space Shuttle mission STS-135.

SmartSPHERES experiment is managed by the Intelligent Robotics Group of the Ames Research Center with funding from Enabling Technology Development and Demonstration program of NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate.

Experiment is part of the SPHERES Integrated Research Experiments program, funded by DARPA.

Experiment uses two hardware assemblies connected to SPHERES satellites, consisting of aluminum resonant coils, coil housing with fans, electronics and batteries.

Individual SPHERES units are maneuvered with respect to each other by generating controlled attractive, repulsive and shear forces using the electromagnetic coils.