Twitter in Space

Twitter, the world’s most popular micro-blogging site, is now not only used in the four corners of the earth, but even by astronauts in outer space. NASA announced a major change to the software onboard the International Space Station, in order to ensure that astronauts have the opportunity to tweet tidbits about their everyday life on a spaceship, as well as keep in touch with family and friends. The first live tweet ever sent from space was posted to the micro-blogging site by TJ Creamer, an astronaut aboard NASA’s Expedition 22. Creamer, whose Twitter name is Astro_TJ, greeted his followers in the “Twitterverse” and reminded them that they are welcome to ask him any questions related to his work on the International Space Station.

Before NASA’s software upgrade, the only way that astronauts on the space station were able to use Twitter was to send e-mail messages to NASA’s ground staff, who would in turn post their tweets from earth. This new technology raises the possibility that astronauts may in the future start posting photographs directly to their Twitter profiles, and allows for unprecedented openness in communication between NASA’s space station team, and micro-bloggers here on earth. NASA also points out that the ability to post tweets directly and answer questions posed by Twitter followers will go far in breaking through the sense of isolation that many astronauts with lengthy stays at the space station feel. In addition to Twitter, astronauts can browse much of the web, send e-mails and even participate in digital video conferencing from space.