NASA Extends the World Wide Web Out Into Space
Click here for more news / Clique aqui para mais notícias
Get free e-mail news / Receba nossas notícias por e-mail
HOUSTON -- Astronauts aboard the International Space Station received
a special software upgrade this week - personal access to the
Internet and the World Wide Web via the ultimate wireless connection.
Expedition 22 Flight Engineer T.J. Creamer made first use of the new
system Friday, when he posted the first unassisted update to his
Twitter account, @Astro_TJ, from the space station. Previous tweets
from space had to be e-mailed to the ground where support personnel
posted them to the astronaut's Twitter account.
"Hello Twitterverse! We r now LIVE tweeting from the International
Space Station -- the 1st live tweet from Space! :) More soon, send
your ?s"
This personal Web access, called the Crew Support LAN, takes advantage
of existing communication links to and from the station and gives
astronauts the ability to browse and use the Web. The system will
provide astronauts with direct private communications to enhance
their quality of life during long-duration missions by helping to
ease the isolation associated with life in a closed environment.
During periods when the station is actively communicating with the
ground using high-speed Ku-band communications, the crew will have
remote access to the Internet via a ground computer. The crew will
view the desktop of the ground computer using an onboard laptop and
interact remotely with their keyboard touchpad.
Astronauts will be subject to the same computer use guidelines as
government employees on Earth. In addition to this new capability,
the crew will continue to have official e-mail, Internet Protocol
telephone and limited videoconferencing capabilities.
To follow Twitter updates from Creamer and two of his crewmates, ISS
Commander Jeff Williams and Soichi Noguchi, visit:
http://twitter.com/NASA_
For more information about the space station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
Source: NASA
