In the beginning of the movie Wall-E, the robot works on the Earth gathering the trash. At some point he grips the space shattle and goes to the outer space. He functions equally ok both on Earth and in the space.
Can this happen in real life? Is it possible for our devices like phone, robotic vacuum cleaner or lantern to function in the space or is there any “earthly” conditions required?
If no, what are the requirements for a device to function in the space? What distinguishes a space shattle or satellite from a common lantern, making it usable in the space?
In: Engineering
If you look at the International Space Station they use a lot of off the shelf devices. Your phone works just fine, even in a vacuum. When going on space walks the astronauts use their own personal watches and have mounted regular GoPro cameras to their helmet cover and use regular torches from the hardware store. A robotic vacuum does not work without gravity as it can not move around on its own. But the ISS have a regular vacuum that they use to clean on a regular basis. Naturally a vacuum cleaner does not clean in the vacuum of space, it does create a vacuum but it does not clean. There are exceptions though. If you talk about oil powered lantern and similar they do not work without gravity to power convection currents to supply the flame with fresh air. So these would not work in space. But most devices you can get your hands on works great in space.
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