August 4th, 2009
First Tweets from the ISS
Written by Nancy Atkinson
Screenshot of Tim Kopra's Twitter page.
Listen my children and you shall hear
Tweets coming from up above our Earthly sphere.
The newest International Space Station astronaut has started Tweeting from space. Tim Kopra is the first ISS crew member to use the social media tool Twitter to discuss living and working in orbit. Kopra (@Astro_Tim) recently joined the Expedition 20 crew after arriving July 17 aboard space shuttle Endeavour. But the coolest thing is that his first Tweets' origin was "from Mobile Web." Yep, from the ISS, that's really mobile.
But of course, there isn't really "the web" up on the space station. But Kopra will sent down his Tweets messages to mission control in Houston, and they will post them on Twitter.
NASA says Kopra will provide followers with a unique perspective as an Expedition 20 flight engineer and member of the Army. He is an Army aviator and West Point graduate. He periodically will answer questions submitted on the Army's Web site. To submit questions and view Kopra's answers, visit the US Army's website
This is Kopra's first spaceflight. He completed his first spacewalk July 18 during the STS-127 mission. Kopra is in orbit with station Commander Gennady Padalka and Roman Romanenko — both Russian cosmonauts — and NASA astronaut Mike Barratt, European Space Agency astronaut Frank DeWinne and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Bob Thirsk.
As of this writing, Astro_Tim has close to 5,000 followers.
You can also follow Universe Today and Nancy on Twitter.
Source: NASA
Filed under: Space Station
Tags: ISS
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