08-28-2018, 04:50 PM
https://www.cultofmac.com/499200/apple-h...rom-space/
August 28, 1991: The first email is sent from space using a Macintosh Portable and AppleLink software.
Sent by the crew of the Atlantis space shuttle, it reads, “Hello Earth! Greetings from the STS-43 Crew. This is the first AppleLink from space. Having a GREAT time, wish you were here,…send cryo and RCS! Hasta la vista, baby,…we’ll be back!”
The primary task of the STS-43 shuttle mission was to deploy a fourth TDRS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite). The shuttle carried a Macintosh Portable, Apple’s first explicitly mobile device (which launched a couple of years earlier in 1989).
The Mac Portable only had to be slightly modified in order to function in space.
The shuttle crew tested various computer components, including the Mac Portable’s built-in trackball and an optical mouse (not built by Apple).
The use of AppleLink, an early online service aimed at connecting Apple dealers, provided an extra means of communication with Earth. The Mac also ran software that let the crew track the shuttle’s position in real time against a world map showing day and night cycles, and re-entry information.
In addition, the Mac functioned as an alarm clock that reminded the crew when they needed to perform certain experiments.
August 28, 1991: The first email is sent from space using a Macintosh Portable and AppleLink software.
Sent by the crew of the Atlantis space shuttle, it reads, “Hello Earth! Greetings from the STS-43 Crew. This is the first AppleLink from space. Having a GREAT time, wish you were here,…send cryo and RCS! Hasta la vista, baby,…we’ll be back!”
The primary task of the STS-43 shuttle mission was to deploy a fourth TDRS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite). The shuttle carried a Macintosh Portable, Apple’s first explicitly mobile device (which launched a couple of years earlier in 1989).
The Mac Portable only had to be slightly modified in order to function in space.
The shuttle crew tested various computer components, including the Mac Portable’s built-in trackball and an optical mouse (not built by Apple).
The use of AppleLink, an early online service aimed at connecting Apple dealers, provided an extra means of communication with Earth. The Mac also ran software that let the crew track the shuttle’s position in real time against a world map showing day and night cycles, and re-entry information.
In addition, the Mac functioned as an alarm clock that reminded the crew when they needed to perform certain experiments.
