ISS Now Has Live Access to the Internet

By Nancy Atkinson - January 22, 2010 at 7:04 AM UTC | Missions
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[/caption] Talk about a truly 'world-wide' web! As the astronauts aboard the International Space Station orbit Earth at 28,000 kph (17,500 mph) they now have the ultimate wireless connection and direct, live access to the internet. The station received a special software upgrade this week, called Crew Support LAN, which gives astronauts the ability to browse and use the Web. Previously, emails, news, and Twitter messages were sent to and from the ISS in uplink and downlink packages, so for example, Twitter (which NASA has embraced wholeheartedly) messages from the astronauts were downlinked to mission control in Houston, and someone there posted them on the astronauts' Twitter accounts. Now, it's live. Expedition 22 Flight Engineer T.J. Creamer made first use of the new system today when he posted the first unassisted update to his Twitter account,

@Astro_TJ,

from the space station:

"Hello Twitterverse! We r now LIVE tweeting from the International Space Station -- the 1st live tweet from Space! :) More soon, send your ?s"

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.

This personal Web access 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.

To follow Twitter updates from all the astronauts, there is one centralized Twitter account for all:

NASA_Astronauts

You can also follow

Universe Today

and me (

Nancy Atkinson)

on Twitter.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com