Filed under: iPod Family, Odds and ends
iPods rock the Space Shuttle
Update 11/16/2008: Welcome Digg visitors. While there may be iPods on the current STS-126 mission, these photos & the blog post are actually from the March 2008 mission.Eagle-eyed reader Walker was perusing hi-res photos of the Space Shuttle Endeavour (which is circling the planet at this moment, docked to the International Space Station in low-earth orbit) when he spotted an iPod through the crew cabin window. It's a massively cool find and we thought you'd like to know it's not the first time an iPod has braved the 3G hurtle into space.
- When the unmanned Jules Verne spacecraft launched earlier this month for its historic docking with the ISS, it took along several commemorative items, including an iPod containing a special list of songs chosen by the winner of a 2007 contest.
- STS crew member Leland Melvin went to the ISS last month aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis, and he took along an iPod pre-loaded with his favorite Christina McBride album and a few songs he'd composed on the piano.
- For Charlie Hobaugh's flight last year, he let his kids load his iPod for him. (Wow,
that's trusting -- he could have spent the 13-day mission listening to Alvin & the Chipmunks).
Your iPod may never make it to outer space, but if you want to protect it on your daily land-based EVAs, why not wrap it in a piece of history? Get a case from everQuest Design that's made from a piece of the Soyuz parachute. From one space geek to another, I ask you: how cool is that?
Thanks Walker!
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Pete said 12:49PM on 3-15-2008
Good thing they didn't bring an iPod Touch. I don't think those gloves would allow them to flick and pinch.
On that note, if they brought an iPhone, those roaming charges would be out of this world.
Reply
tom.b said 2:20PM on 3-15-2008
And don't forget the motion sensor would have no idea what to do either
Fritz Laurel said 1:06PM on 3-15-2008
Ouch, they left it in DIRECT sunlight!
Reply
walkerjs said 3:52PM on 3-15-2008
Yes, but only for 45 minutes at a time, every 45 minutes.
Niklas said 1:31PM on 3-15-2008
You can't replace iPod batteries. That's unpossible!
Reply
dan said 1:35PM on 3-15-2008
wait, i'm confused...
TUAW reported in 2006 that an iPod was spotted on the ISS ( http://www.tuaw.com/2006/09/26/ipod-in-space/ ), yet now they're saying that they can only be used in the Shuttle? wonder if someone broke protocol...
Reply
Michael Rose said 2:11PM on 3-15-2008
Dan, excellent catch. I went back and re-checked both Scott's post and the cosmonaut's blog -- she reported using her iPod on the Soyuz capsule en route to ISS, not on the station itself. I added a clarification to Scott's post.
You, sir, get the longtime reader award!
dan said 2:30PM on 3-15-2008
ah, well that would explain it! i knew i wasn't crazy thinking that i had read about an iPod on the ISS before... thanks for the update!
reinharden said 12:06AM on 3-16-2008
See http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-14/hires/iss014e08795.jpg for a picture from the ISS that includes an iPod.
reinharden
Collin said 1:36PM on 3-15-2008
I wonder if the alkaline batteries offer better life than the lithium ones they ship with...
Reply
Erik said 1:41PM on 3-15-2008
When the swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang went up with Discovery, he also brought an iPod: http://www.macworld.co.uk/ipod-itunes/news/index.cfm?newsid=16722&pagtype=allchandate
Reply
ipodrulz said 1:42PM on 3-15-2008
Seeing that Canadian flag makes me proud. We finally made a mark in this world, out of this world.
Reply
artifex said 3:57PM on 3-15-2008
The new robot is the "Canadarm2" because there's already been a Canadarm design in service on shuttles since the second shuttle mission, in 1981:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadarm
In fact, it's how they move an external camera around the shuttle to check for damage, now.
ipodrulz said 4:07PM on 3-15-2008
Sorry, did some more research. There is currently Canadarm + Canadarm2. The robot on the current endeavour mission is called the Dextre (nicknamed Canada Hand), and it is a robot with 2 other arms.
artifex said 10:06AM on 3-16-2008
oops, well, anyway, that's a lot of maple leaves in space. :)
Frank said 1:50PM on 3-15-2008
this is so full of awesomeness, i can't stand it.
Reply
loren said 1:58PM on 3-15-2008
we need video of the ipod floating in zero gravity!!!!
Reply
Jim Hillhouse said 3:24PM on 3-15-2008
iPods not on ISS? Not true. NASAWatch.com regularly has photos of ISS crewmen listening to their iPods.
Reply
Lisa Hoover said 2:43PM on 3-15-2008
I, too, thought I've read/seen iPods on the ISS. Here's where I sourced the info I included in the post but I'd be happy to check with KSC Media Relations on Monday morning and let everyone know the deal.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=4450259&page=1
Reply
Cleve said 3:38PM on 3-15-2008
this waslifted from last weeks 9to5mac.com
Reply