Samsung Galaxy S 2 is an Android astronaut on a space balloon

By Rich Trenholm on 23 June 2011, 5:56pm

We're gonna send it to outer space, to find another bar of mobile phone signal. The Samsung Galaxy S 2 is going on a space odyssey, released into the heavens on a space balloon.

The phone will be borne aloft by a tiny astronaut, and reach 3km from the Earth. Why? No idea.

We know we wouldn't want our phone floating off on a giant balloon, and especially not the £480 powerhouse that is the S 2. It packs a 4.3-inch AMOLED screen, an 8-megapixel camera and a dual-core processor, all in a space-age, slimline case.

Running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the S2 -- or S 2, or S II, or Ess Too or however you write it -- earned itself a coveted CNET UK Editors' Choice Award. And we don't give those out just for turning up, y'know.

Crave has been to space, y'know. We even sent one of you up there a few stardates ago to float around in a cosmic competition. Here's a video of what the Android-powered astronaut can expect from its spacewalk:

If it comes to interstellar war, how would the S2 do? Click here to see how it shapes up against the HTC Desire S, LG Optimus 3D, and iPhone 4.

The Space Balloon blasts off -- okay, floats off -- from Nevada on 15 July, and you can watch live at Ustream. You can also send tweets and messages to the phone, to be played back as it traverses the heavens.

In the meantime, click here for the greatest spaceships ever to sail the solar winds. Which gadget do you wish you could strap to a rocket and blast into space? Blast off in the comments or on our Facebook page.