There&#x27;s a lot that goes into space worthiness rating even beyond the technical spec requirements. There&#x27;s probably a bid request available for when they were first considered too. No idea where to start hunting that down though.<p>There was a really good article[0] (plus a video talk I can&#x27;t find) on a team that modified an Android phone to go to space to interface with the SPHERES mini satellite experiments. A short list of the things they had to do includes:<p>- No Lithium Ion battery, it takes 2+ years to get a LIon battery certified for the ISS<p>- Had to put a screen protector on, broken glass screen becomes an inhalation hazard in zero G, BUT many materials are considered flammable in the high oxygen environment on station.<p>- Had to lobotomize the Wifi and cellular chips to ensure they&#x27;d never turn on. Just removing the software that would control and allow them to turn on wasn&#x27;t enough.<p>In addition to everything in the article they have to worry about off gassing from all the various materials that make up anything sent to space.<p>[0] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;arstechnica.com&#x2F;gadgets&#x2F;2013&#x2F;03&#x2F;how-nasa-got-an-android-handset-ready-to-go-into-space&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;arstechnica.com&#x2F;gadgets&#x2F;2013&#x2F;03&#x2F;how-nasa-got-an-andro...</a>