Open the iPod bay doors, HAL: iPod spotted on STS-125 space shuttle mission

What's nicer than to come back into a nice, cozy space shuttle after a hard day fixing the Hubble Space Telescope, taking off your sweaty space suit, and the listening to some tunes on your iPod?

TUAW reader Brandon pointed out a photo (below) from the latest mission that showed Astronauts John Grunsfeld and Andrew Feustel grinning in the shuttle mid-deck after the third extravehicular activity (EVA). Plastered to one wall with Velcro are an iPod and some sort of speaker system.

A closeup view (below) shows that this appears to be a 4th-generation iPod, either the iPod Photo or iPod Color, with what looks like a Belkin TunePower battery pack. As for the speaker system, I leave that to our readers to let us know what model we may be looking at.

Since Astronaut Mike Massimino used the Hubble Servicing Mission to send the first Twitter messages from space as @astro_mike, we wonder when the first iPod touch or MacBook Air wlll be seen in orbit. This isn't the first time we've seen Apple products in space (for example, last year's STS-123 mission also had an AstroiPod on board), and it most certainly won't be the last.

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Source: http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/15/ipods-rock-the-space-shuttle/

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What's nicer than to come back into a nice, cozy space shuttle after a hard day fixing the Hubble Space Telescope, taking off your sweaty...

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vistet

The altitude/air pressure issue is about the hard drive : the reading head floats on an air cushion above the spinning disc . Reduced pressure ..drifting closer .. blammo ! Seen it happen in Tibet & Indian Himalaya.

May 24 2009 at 4:46 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

iphonerulez

Why is this unusual? Was really anyone expecting a Zune on the Shuttle?

May 23 2009 at 10:10 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Rick

I'd imagine an iPod touch would require a little more fiddling or a custom OS build. The accelerometer that so many apps rely on would not function in space in a way that most developers would have planned for.

May 22 2009 at 12:39 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

2 replies to Rick's comment

Eric D.

That's as simple as jailbreaking and installing Rotation Inhibitor :)

May 22 2009 at 5:03 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Eric M.

Ignore that Hit List comment. Autofill FTL.

May 23 2009 at 9:57 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

YahnBaron

@EBone
I have a pembro named buddy! He is awesome, but he has pink eye in both of his eyes and it looks like it is bothering him :-(

May 22 2009 at 11:55 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to YahnBaron's comment

EBone

My pembro Elizabeth has allergies that cause her right eye to water. Corgis are the best.

May 22 2009 at 1:00 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

YahnBaron

@pooria
don't you mean 2 windows from your other right side?!?! ;-)

May 22 2009 at 11:48 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

EBone

@astro_mike actually twittered a couple of days ago that he was listening to his iPod in the orbiter after working on Hubble.

May 22 2009 at 11:48 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Blake

" I don't know what the Space Shuttle is pressurized to..."

bruceskelly,

Air pressure inside the cabin of the Shuttle is maintained at 1,033 grams per square centimeter (14.71 lbs.), the same as that on earth at sea level. I knew that is was the pressure of sea level but I wanted to state the actual number.

May 22 2009 at 11:36 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Pooria

look for an iPod in the shuttle's second window from left !!

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-123/hires/iss016e032313.jpg

"ENDEAVOUR SHUTTLE"

:-)

May 22 2009 at 9:59 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Pooria's comment

Adam

Now that is cool

May 22 2009 at 11:13 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

bruceskelly

Oh-Oh. I think they just voided their warranty. Apple specs say:
"Environmental requirements
Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet (3000 m)"

I'm sure the shuttle flies at more than 10,000 ft. :)

May 22 2009 at 9:41 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

3 replies to bruceskelly's comment

daba

I just wonder if a zune will ever make it into space... probably not.
& is radio transmitting technology allowed in space shuttles (bluetooth, wi-fi, ect.)?

May 22 2009 at 8:19 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply